


Ripped Threads

by DestinyForestWarrior



Series: PZS - Spider's Web [1]
Category: Black Panther (2018), Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: And she hates him, Angst, BAMF Tina OC, Bruce is the mother bear, Clint not so much, Cosmic Entities, Everyone Freaks Out, Flash is an Asshole, Fluffy, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I am so evil, I just need to develop the relationship, I love em, I will also go down with this ship, I will go down with this friendship!, Infinity Stones, Ironfamily, Is it really that graphic?, It will get worse in later chapters, It's my guilty pleasure!, Kidnapping, Loki lets Peter feed him candy, Ned Is a Good Bro, Pegasi, Peter likes British Candy, Rhodey and Happy are smart, Road Trips, Scott adores Peter, Scott is a good father, Scott will fight Tony if he hurts Peter, Secret Identity, Secrets, So is Rhodey, So much angst, Suffering, Team IronMan, The kids need more love, Thor/Valkyrie/Okoye possible????, Tina is Deadpool's cousin, Valkyrie is extremely protective of her stupid human child, a bit of comfort, actually, am i really sorry though, and is stressed, and readers, and tony and pepper, another bug, better safe than sorry, bucky is great, don't mess with the stones or they will mess you up, for the characters, i dunno, i haven't seen the movies enough, i like to torture the characters, i swear i haven't forgotten tina, karen and friday are bros, karen is protective, kids being kids, like literally half of the cast freaks out, magic is unexplained science, michelle doesn't believe tina, ned believes tina, not physically, oblivious idiots, ooc to a degree, peter is on a mission to give everyone heart attacks, pre-IW, random au shit, sometimes, teenagers being teenagers, the stones are wise, thor and loki know everything, torture in the future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-04-06 21:59:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 38
Words: 100,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14066481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DestinyForestWarrior/pseuds/DestinyForestWarrior
Summary: Peter Parker, Spiderman, has a bigger secret – that isn’t his vigilante alter ego – and that secret could make or break his entire life.In 2000 Tony and Pepper married and a year later they had a son by the name of Zayden James Stark, however one year later the child was kidnapped and assumed dead by everyone who knew of his existence, but he is alive and is known as Peter Parker. Who is also an intern for Stark Industries.Peter is aware of his heritage, but his parents are still in the dark and believe he is a regular teenager.When threats and enemies begin to arise, will Peter tell them of their relationship or will they find out in the worst way possible?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> My first published story, and this AU will not leave my head. I dunno if I will finish this - I do know how it will end though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> REVAMPED slightly just to add the Cosmic Entities

Richard adjusted his grip on Captain America’s file, questioning Nick Fury’s decision in handing the file to Anthony Stark. While he trusted his boss, sometimes he wondered if Fury was distracted by the unknown location of Carol Danvers, who Richard had never met but could only guess what she is doing beyond her piloting career.

Richard sighed and hummed, his footsteps echoing across the hallway and felt a sense of unease fill him. It was too quiet for such a high security hallway. While Richard would not argue with Tony and Pepper about their son, they were parents while Richard could only wish that his son had remained alive.

Zayden James Stark, Tony and Pepper’s pride and joy.

Anyone who met Zayden, and knew of his existence, fell in love with him. Richard had felt honoured that Tony and Pepper trusted him enough to let him know their son and allow him with Zayden alone. They obviously knew that another parent would be less likely to hurt their son, and they had known him since he became a spy for SHIELD.

However, Richard wasn’t technically a father anymore. He and Mary had expected to introduce a baby boy by the name of Peter into the world, but life wasn’t willing to let him and Mary have a good family. Their son was a still born, and Mary and Richard had taken a few months off in order to grieve the loss of their child. The point of this is that they refused to tell Fury and Tony about the loss, while they would’ve been given time off they decided to keep the family secret a secret.

Was it selfish? Yes, but Richard knew that SHIELD would be more willing to help to protect a family if there are children involved—ignoring the fact some of the older agents were child soldiers.

The hallway was silent, and Richard slowed his footsteps down. His eyes flickered around, craning to try and hear something. While Jarvis had not been installed into the building as Tony had said that Stark Industries would be moving base and were going to be selling the building.

A faint voice reached Richard’s ears and caused him to slow down and pause outside a door. Doing a quick check without touching the door itself, Richard realised the door was firmly locked.

That was strange. Doors were rarely locked in the building, it was a security measure that Tony suggested, so Richard’s spy training kicked in and he rested against the door. The door was cold against Richard’s ear but he pushed through it.

“Why should we kill him?” Richard frowned, eyes narrowing as he tried to figure out who was talking.

“Why shouldn’t we?” A deep and icy voice sent chills down Richard’s spine. “I am just taking orders and extending on them.”

“Whether or not the child is killed or just taken away, they will not be able to focus on their jobs.” The first voice raised slightly, and then Richard paused body almost being pulled down by shock and fear.

Obadiah Stane.

“Stark Industries have been flourishing, and I know that you can assist me in my conquest, and HYDRA’s return.”

No way.

Richard blinked.

Was that Red Skull?

He thought he had died, everyone thought he had died. How…How was he still alive, and what had happened to him to cause him to go off the radar.

“Believe me, Red Skull.” Richard felt dread fill his heart. He was correct. “When I am able to run Stark Industries once more, then Hydra will get the weapons it deserves.”

Red Skull’s voice dipped and Richard strained to hear his words. “And what are you going to do to achieve that position?”

A beat of silence and Richard hoped that the sense of dread was only him assuming something that might not even be true at all.

“Well, I guess that brat Zayden is going to have to be removed, hm?” Stane sounded as though he was smirking and smug about the prospect of killing an innocent child.

Richard recoiled back and slipped away from the door before Stane could open the door to find out that Richard was listening in. He had to get to Zayden, there was no other way, keeping him away from the building until he was certain that Obadiah was not looking for him. However, Richard has a feeling no matter what if he returned Zayden than Obadiah can do it all over again.

That mere thought made Richard feel sick and unwell as he hurried towards the room that contained the unaware one year old.

Richard quickly chucked the file onto the desk nearby, hoping someone would find it and deliver it to Tony.

The door opened and quickly shut behind him, causing the quietly sleeping child to stir awake. Big brown eyes blinked up at the adult male, looking much to intelligent for his age. Was that just a Stark trait? Richard wasn’t aware if it was but knew that what happened this day would not be something he would forget.

“Hey, kid. Think you can keep quiet for me?” Richard asked as he bent down to pick Zayden up and cradle him in his arms.

Zayden reached up and touched Richard’s cheek, and looked at the closed door. Perhaps he knew that Obadiah was there and not to say anything. In retrospect, this was obvious previously.

Zayden never truly liked Obadiah and would often refuse to be around him, apparently getting a bad vibe from him but all of them had just brushed it off that he rarely saw Obadiah.

Richard decided that if he had to he’d take Zayden in, then he and Mary would never be called his parents by him. It would ease up any other problems that might arise in future years when he found out the truth. The sting would be less painful for everyone.

Richard sighed. “I hope Tony and Pepper can forgive me.”

Zayden just blinked as they began to leave through the door in silence. However, before Richard could message Mary, he saw Obadiah standing at the end of the hallway.

Fuck.

Richard turned and took off running, Obadiah yelled and bolted after him. The spy was much faster than Obadiah, but sadly did not contain the same building layout that Stane had. He was using secret and other pathways to cut Richard off, but he was already expecting it and fully slipped through the main entrance and exit of that part of the building.

He was screwed.

Obadiah will now use this against him.

Richard looked over his shoulder and got to his car, resting against the door. Richard closed his eyes and tried to calm his racing heart. Zayden clutched at Richard’s shirt and whimpered out of fear.

Richard grabbed his phone and proceeded to send a text to Mary.

Richard: Obadiah is trying to kill Zayden, so I took him with me. Let Tony and Pepper think he died and I tried to protect him but couldn’t.

Richard: Also, Red Skull is alive. Don’t tell anyone. I don’t know if it really was him or it was just the name he took.

Mary: You…You! A child?!

Richard: Fury and Tony believe our son in alive. We can forge Zayden a new birth certificate.

Richard grabbed all of Zayden’s stuff along with a photocopied birth certificate.

Richard: We will tell him to call us his aunt and uncle. He has Stark brains, he will know he was adopted and get irritated if he can’t find his parents.

Mary: Why? Is it because we lost our child?

Richard: Yes.

Richard: He will be raised out of the fame but knowledge of his heritage.

Mary: Very well

Mary: What will his name be?

Richard: Peter

Richard: Peter Benjamin Parker

 

Infinity folded her arms and looked at the Cosmic Stones.

The time stone was with the Masters of Mystic Arts, the space stone hidden away with SHIELD, the reality stone was hidden within the Aether, the power stone remained hidden on a planet as well as the mind stone. The soul stone glinted from where it remained in Vormir.

She frowned, the soul stone was acting incredibly strange and Infinity just hoped that the reason wasn’t something that was going to destroy the world.


	2. Through The Years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REVAMP
> 
> With some more major scenes just to get it started
> 
> Much like all chapters, this is getting a major reworking just to flow plot points better - also hey, I needed more Flash and Ned and May

It had been five years as Mary and Richard sat on the plane. Fury had sent them on a mission, in which Tony and Pepper had allowed Richard to be away.

They hadn’t gotten over Zayden’s disappearance, but Richard had told them that he doubted Zayden was dead, as no body was shown. Still, he couldn’t do anything about Obadiah who knew full well that Richard had gotten Zayden away.

Mary whispered quietly to her husband. “Red Skull and Obadiah want us dead. Will this plane go down?”

Richard sighed, and decided to come clean to his wife. “I think so. Peter is with May and Ben. They will take care of him.” The man looked out the window as the plane continued its flight to Russia. “They won’t know he isn’t with us.”

Mary didn’t seem to agree but didn’t argue, they couldn’t. They were with other agents and they couldn’t talk about Peter, slash Zayden, without eyebrows being raised.

 

Red Skull smirked as he watched the plane go down in a blaze. He knew it was full of SHIELD agents and knew that their children would’ve also been with them. It was the whole “family” trip that was promised. SHIELD didn’t know he was still alive, and he was planning on keeping it a secret.

 

Peter looked up at May and Ben who were staring at the television screen, looks of shock on their faces. Peter pulled the door back, eyes focused on his aunt and uncle.

Ben turned his head, eyes landing on Peter who whimpered and tried to back away. His uncle walked towards the young child.

“Hey, hey, hey. Petey…It’s alright. We aren’t upset with you.” Ben crouched down and raised a hand to rest it atop his nephew’s fluffy brown hair.

Peter tilted his head, eyes flicking towards May who refused to look at them. “What—what—what happened?”

“It’s nothing.” May answered.

The child lifted his head to look at Ben. “Uncle Ben?”

Ben merely kissed Peter’s forehead. “Don’t worry, Petey. Everything will be fine.”

Peter frowned and looked down at his hands in confusion. What did they mean? Glancing at the TV once more, Peter froze his eyes widening in shock and surprise.

The screen flickered but there was the obvious visual of a plane crash with flames flicking across the ground.

Nothing needed to be said, Peter already guessed. He just didn’t want to be right.

 

Peter grinned at Ned who bounded by his side.

“You wouldn’t believe it!” Ned cried, hands shooting up which barely missed Peter’s face. “It is awesome.”

Peter laughed. “You make it sound fun.”

Ned gaped. “I still can’t believe you’ve never seen Star Wars. As my friend that is not possible for you to say.”

A smile tugged at Peter’s lips. At least Ned was willing to help him through the loss of his “parents”, and he didn’t think any less of Peter despite it.

“Let go of me!” Peter and Ned both paused and turned their heads to see two older males picking on another child.

Before Ned could do anything, Peter leaped forward eyes narrowed in anger. “Hey!”

One of them let go of the other boy, causing him to land with a thump. “Oh, look, it’s the little boy.”

Peter frowned. “Leave him alone.”

“What would you do if we don’t?” The taller asked, arms folded across his chest.

Peter felt a surge of fear overcome him but he forced himself to stare at them without wavering his gaze. “What would you do to me? I’m not scared of you.”

“You should be.” They stepped forward.

However, their saving grace was a teacher who came around just in time to see what was going on and told the students off for their actions.

Peter stepped forward and held his hand out to the other kid, someone who he didn’t recognise immediately. Guessing he was a new student. “Hey, are you okay?”

He blinked and nodded. “Yeah…” He cracked a grin. “Thank you.”

“I’m Peter Parker, and this is Ned Leeds.” Peter motioned to him and Ned who stood beside him.

The student took Peter’s hand. “Eugene…Thompson.”

 

Peter pursed his lips at Eugene who snarled at him. “Eugene…”

“In case you’ve forgotten, Penis.” Eugene snapped, eyes burning with hatred. “My name is Flash, Eugene is dead, got it?”

Peter reeled back, and Ned stood behind him, hand on his shoulder to try and comfort his friend.

“Now, go away. I have better friends than you two losers.” Eugene brushed past the pair.

Ned scowled. “He does know that we are part of the Decathlon team, right? Last time I checked, you can’t be a loser and be in the best team of the school. Or has it changed?”

“It hasn’t changed.” Peter said, shaking his head. “Flash has.”

Ned and peter walked down the hall, but Peter looked back at Flash who did a double take before glaring at him. The younger dropped his shoulders and looked away, getting the hint.

 

Peter shifted and looked up at Ben and May who looked curious as to what Peter had to say.

“Peter, what is it?” May asked, stepping forward but it caused Peter to step back in uncertainty.

He took a deep breath when he saw he hurt expression. “Well…Ah, I don’t know how to explain it properly.”

“Peter.” Ben said, his tone indicating that he didn’t want any dilly dallying and for the point to be told.

Like always. Ben was always a “straight to the point” kind of guy and hated having to wait for the information to be told. He wasn’t always the most patient of people, but it helped to teach Peter to just say something and be done with it.

“I’m Spiderman!” Peter forced out, trying to keep his voice down so no unwanted people overheard his absolutely ludicrous declaration.

“What?” Ben asked, and May stiffened in shock.

Both adults wanted Peter to be like, “surprise! It’s just a prank”, but when no such thing was said silence was the only thing in the apartment.

Ben muttered, head hanging and shaking from side to side in mild disbelief. “Of course. I should not be surprised.”

“I am!” May screeched.

Peter winced and backed off to his room. “Okay…I’ll go and be in my room, doing homework. No going out tonight I’m guessing?”

“On a school night as well?!” May’s voice raised in pitch.

Ben placed his hand on her shoulder. “At least it isn’t drugs.”

Peter closed the door behind him but could hear May’s next screech. “That is not helping!” Ben let out a cry of pain, indicating May had just slapped his shoulder. “Why are you not panicking?”

“Have you seen his parents?” Ben sounded as though that explained everything. “Crazy is part of his family, the good kind though.”

“And your crazy is the bad kind!” May snapped, and Ben backed off pleading for his wife to not hurt him.

Peter sighed and collapsed onto the floor.

That could’ve gone worse.

He gazed at the apprenticeship letter that fluttered on his wall. The Stark Industries symbol stood out against the normal yet business style the letter had.

Looked like he had a busy day there, perhaps he could try and figure out a way to make stronger web fluid. Well this apprenticeship looked like it’d be more beneficial for him after all.

 

Peter jumped off of Karen, allowing his AI robot to land on the snow beside him. Looking through the window, they spied Tony, Steve and Bucky watching a video file play.

"What is that video of?" Karen asked.

"I don't know, girl." Peter frowned, eyes narrowing beneath his mask.

There was just a road, and Peter could hear talking coming from within the room. It happened too fast, all too fast for Peter to fully process.

The Winter Soldier (Bucky) killed Howard and Maria, causing peter to flinch back. The fight between Tony, Steve and Bucky ended very quickly, leaving Steve and Bucky to leave, despite Bucky not wanting to and looking back unsure if leaving Tony was a good idea.

It wasn't.

"Steve knew how my grandparents died?" He whispered, in shock.

Karen shifted, laying a wing over his back. "Boss..."

"And he didn't tell anyone?" Peter somehow managed to keep his voice low.

Peter shook his head and spoke lowly. "Doesn't matter. Karen, call emergency services, we'll get out of here once we know he is safe."

Karen nodded. "Yes, Boss."

Ned and Peter stared at Harley, but before either of them could say or do anything, Flash came up to him.

“Hey, I’m Flash. AKA the best and coolest person in this school.” Flash grinned, radiating charm but it just rubbed Peter the wrong way.

“I’m Harley Keener.” Harley introduced himself, eyes flicking towards Peter and Ned out of curiosity.

Peter frowned slightly. The name rang a bell, but where from?

“Harley Keener? Like the teenager that is said to be the heir to Stark Industries?” Flash gaped, eyes widening but Peter saw a flicker of something darker and less innocent behind his gaze.

“Yeah, Tony Stark and Pepper Potts have taken me in slightly.” Harley agreed.

So that is where Peter remembered him from. News articles that he ended up not paying much attention to.

Ned placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder, earning a thankful smile from the younger.

 

Stephen and Wong blinked as they saw a blue portal appear in the entrance of the sanctum. Suddenly Stephen cast a spell around them when he saw Loki and Thor, with three other strangers.

“Hello, Stephen.” Thor greeted happily.

“Thor and Loki.” Stephen grumbled. “Why are you here?”

“The space stone. We didn’t mean to come here with no warning.” Thor explained and looked at Loki. “And try not to kill anyone, brother.”

Thor then gestured to the others. “This is Korg, Heimdall, Valkyrie and Bruce Banner.”

Stephen frowned and lowered his hands while Wong looked between them. “Well, I don’t trust you guys.”

“You don’t have to.” Loki said with a shrug. “However, we bring a warning of a threat.”

“What kind of threat?” Wong asked.

Loki’s eyes gleamed dangerously. “A threat that you are unprepared for.”


	3. A Fine Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REVAMPED: 
> 
> 2/06/18
> 
> I just wanted to alter some of the information in this chapter

Peter strolled through the door of the room where the Stark Industry interns were seated. Tina rushed towards him, her blue eyes were wide with surprise.

“Peter!” The said male raised his eyebrows as he struggled to hide a yawn behind his hand.

“It’s so early. Why are we here so early?”

“Mr Stark has an announcement.” Tina explained, dragging him along behind her. She muttered. “Except, I’ve heard this announcement before. This time it is just more set out.”

Peter rubbed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“We’ve lived this before.” Tina shrugged. “Well, not this moment, but we have lived through the announcement before.”

“How do you know that?”

“Well, the announcement is us being allowed to stay a week here in Stark Tower.” Tina said, eyes sparkling. “Do you believe me?”

Peter groaned. “I dunno. I do, to a degree anyway. Come on, don’t be ludicrous.”

Tina huffed. “I’m being serious.”

Marcus walked up to Tina and flicked her head with his finger. “Okay, miss Serious. Don’t get all Joker on us, please.”

“As long as I’m Heath Ledger’s Joker.” Tina batted her eyes at Marcus who merely rolled his eyes at her antics.

Peter let out a laugh. “Fair enough, who wouldn’t want to be Heath Ledger’s Joker?”

“Exactly!” Tina yelled out loudly, causing everyone to turn their heads to look at her and Peter in confusion.

Tina blew kisses at them while Peter buried his head into his hands with a groan of embarrassment.

“Why are you like this?” Peter whimpered.

Tina shrugged. “If I wasn’t then I’d be normal. And that is totally boring. Who wants to be normal, Spidey?”

Peter stiffened. “What?”

The female leaned towards him. “Like I said. I know things.”

She winked at him before stepping back when the door opened again to reveal Tony Stark. Peter shook his head at her before turning his head to focus on the adult.

“Good morning, my lovely interns.” Tony exclaimed, arms out stretched.

Tina shot Peter a look, causing him to almost snicker at her distressed expression.

“I have wonderful news, that all your family and your schools have agreed to.” Tony continued, and began to gesture wildly.

Tina leaned over and hissed. “Okay…This wasn’t what I was expecting.”

Chloe looked confused. “Mr Stark? What are you talking about?”

The billionaire grinned. “Well, we have come to an agreement for you to be able to spend the next week here at Stark Industries Tower. Of course, you will still be expected to do school work while you are here.”

Peter groaned almost inaudibly when Tina smirked at his distress.

 

“Hey, May.” Peter said as he walked into the apartment, running a hand through his hair to try and not fall asleep on the spot.

“Peter? What is wrong?” May asked, walking out of the kitchen after wiping her hands with a towel.

Peter sighed, and collapsed on the couch, tucking his legs beneath him. “You already know why. It involves Stark Industries. I can’t go for the week, I’m not gonna be able to get out and be Spiderman.”

May ran her fingers through his hair to calm him down.

“How is that not a good idea?” May asked, tone soft.

Peter closed his eyes in bliss. “Because…I actually don’t know why…I just don’t think I should.”

May stepped back. “I would suggest that it would be good for you. You need time to stay away from the crime, and you have enough time to be in the labs.” Her eyes sparkled. “Wouldn’t that also mean you have plenty of time to make new web formula?”

A laugh emitted from her nephew as he padded after her into the kitchen. “That is probably the only positive outcome of the entire week, actually.”

May turned around and cupped his face, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “Zayden. You are still my child, regardless of what blood you contain. You have done difficult things and had terrible things happen to you, but yet you always prevail.”

Tears began to trickle down Peter’s face. “May…You will always be my mother, and I won’t ever leave you.”

May smiled and pushed him gently. “Get changed and put on a movie then. I’ll bring some snacks out for us to share.”

“Good idea.”

 

Peter groaned as he scratched his head with his pen, looking at the prototype designs for his hoverboard.

“Should I just use Vibranium?” Peter whined, head thumping against his desk, legs kicking out in irritation.

“Why would you do that?” An Italian feminine voice echoed around his room, before a robot cat jumped onto the desk.

“Karen, please, don’t.”

His AI hissed, metal claws clicking on the desktop. “No using Vibranium.”

Peter lifted his head, eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t do that anyway.”

“Good, stick to technology that you are used to.” Karen nodded, sitting down beside her creator but not doing anything else.

Earlier that night, Peter had swung in to help the Avengers with something relating to more Chitauri tech that was being used to try and create a portal. As it was a dangerous threat to the whole world (or at least it could potentially become a bigger deal if not dealt with straight away), the Avengers were called to deal with it properly.

Spiderman was a helper that they were relieved to have on their side as he was capable of figuring out what weapons they had were. It was remains of Vulture’s gangs.

Peter/Spiderman had some history with Vulture and his gang, so he was more targeted than the others. It was helpful for the Avengers to take them down with their attention drawn to the arachnid.

He briefly wondered how they would feel about fighting alongside a fifteen-year-old.

Karen tilted her head. “Have you finished your work?”

“I’m stumped.”

“So, no. You could’ve just said that.”

“Karen…Seriously…I’m really knackered, I should just go to sleep.” Peter pushed his chair back as he stumbled towards his bed before collapsing on top of the sheet covers.

Karen jumped off the desk and joined him, resting beside his arm. “You know Harley is going to be there.”

Peter huffed. “I kind of figured that out already. I shouldn’t be surprised if they claimed they want to adopt him, or at least gain legal guardianship of him.”

“That isn’t upsetting to you at all.”

Peter crawled up his bed. “So, I’ve gotten over it.”

“No, no, you haven’t.” Karen protested, her robotic tail flicking from side to side in what appeared to be irritated by Peter’s blasé attitude towards the whole issue. “They are still your parents.

A hologram lit up of Peter’s Instagram account, allowing him to scroll through it without really reading anything.

Karen nuzzled Peter’s neck, huffing and allowing her body to become heavy as she slowly shut it down. Peter grumbled by her action but turned the hologram off and dropped his phone to his bedside table. The loud clatter made him worry that May had awoken, but after a brief pause that was not the case.

Peter snuggled further into his bed, eyes fluttering shut as he allowed himself to fall asleep.

 

Ned padded beside Peter, eyes lit up with excitement. “I still can’t believe that you are going to be living at Stark Tower.”

“Well, I wish that wasn’t the case.” Peter muttered, eyes rolling but was still excited over the whole fact.

Karen padded at his feet, after arguing with him to let her out of his bag, looking up at both teenagers.

However, his happy mood was quickly diminished.

“You have to let me come with you.” Flash’s obnoxious voice echoed down the silent hallway before he and Harley rounded a corner just in front of them. “You can put in a good word for me, can’t you? I would ask Penis, but I doubt he is fully cared about.”

Harley frowned slightly. “Flash, you know Peter is quite a high up intern, being capable of assisting Tony and Pepper with any paperwork that deals with less legal work.”

“Sounds fake.” Flash snorted, before he noticed Ned and Peter a few metres away. “Speaking of the devil.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Eugene what have I told you about going around revealing my real name?”

Ned burst out laughing, not even bothering to try and cover it up. Flash’s face burned with irritation and anger while Harley tried to hide his own grin at Peter’s response.

Harley stepped forward. “So, are you going to be at the tower for the week?”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to at first.” Peter grumbled, as he and Ned walked in front of the other two teenagers with Karen curling her tail around Peter’s leg.

“Why not?” Harley asked, deciding to leave Flash behind as he tried to catch up with the older males. “Do you not like it?”

Peter shrugged. “I just don’t like leaving my aunt alone. Her job is already strenuous enough. I guess not having to feed two people for a week will be fine.”

Karen nudged Peter’s leg. “Come on, Boss. She’ll be fine. If you want I can go and keep an eye on her if you are that worried.”

Harley jumped, his voice rising in pitch. “You have an AI?!”

“Not that surprising, that is easy to do.” Flash narrowed his eyes as Karen met his gaze.

Peter paused and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Well? Have you tried to make an AI?”

“No…But it…” Flash stuttered.

“Then keep your mouth shut, Flash Gordon.” Karen sniffed, keeping by Peter’s side.

Harley squeaked. “Oh my god! That is so awesome! I wish I was smart enough to create an AI.”

A blush began to spread across Peter’s face, looking embarrassed by Harley’s praise. He never did do well with being praised.

Ned gawked. “Hey, is that a Stark Industries car?”

All of them turned to see a SI car pull up on the road outside of the school. The window was wind down to reveal on of the many bodyguards in the front seat.

Harley began to bound over to the car. “See ya, Flash!”

“I swear I would still be better to be there than you, Pussy.” Flash hissed when Peter began to walk away as well.

Karen hissed, almost launching herself at Flash but was stopped by Ned getting between them.

Ned narrowed his eyes. “Come on, Flash. Leave Peter alone.”

Peter sighed and crawled into the car, allowing Karen to jump onto his lap. His two bags dropped onto the car floor, looking out the window as the car began the relatively short drive towards Stark Tower.

Harley bounced in his seat. “I can’t wait to see what happens. Maybe we can persuade Tony into letting us go to the movies or something.”

Peter’s eyes drifted shut. “Mm, maybe. I wouldn’t expect it though.”

“You are right, I can always ask though.” Harley said, voice bright in excitement.

 

Peter and Karen looked around Stark Tower’s lobby. Karen looked around.

“Man. This place is huge.”

“Another AI?” Friday’s voice slightly echoed around the lobby.

Karen almost screeched, hiding behind Peter’s leg. “What was that?”

“That was Friday.” Peter chuckled at the obvious fear that his own AI had.

Karen sniffed. “Oh right, I knew that. Obviously.”

“I’m happy to meet another AI.”

Karen nudged Peter. “She needs a physical form, boss.”

Peter almost burst out laughing at Karen’s words.

Two voices caused him to pause and turn his gaze towards a door which opened to reveal Nakia and Shuri.

Karen hummed. “I didn’t know that the royals were coming here.”

“Neither did I.” Peter murmured.

The princess met his gaze, and Peter flicked his eyes away to try and avoid the embarrassment that was threatening to cover his face. His skin felt warm, so it was pretty pointless.

 _I can’t believe this. Lovely._ Peter tried to keep the blush down.

Tina slipped up to his side and threw her arm around Peter’s shoulders. “How is my favourite spider?”

“Aren’t I the only spider you know?” Peter asked before he snapped his mouth shut.

Tina only laughed at his mishap. “Are you forgetting Black Widow?” Her eyes twinkled in amusement.

Peter groaned, burying his face into his hands. “Please, don’t hold this over my head.”

“Revamps need change, ya know.” The female began to drag him behind her as they joined the other interns.

Peter glanced over to Shuri who had her eyes narrowed at Tina, and something that Peter swore was jealousy or envy. He couldn’t say anything about it, because Shuri had turned away to continue talking with Nakia about the Royal Wakandan Jet.

His phone pinged, and Peter pulled his phone out to look at the message.

 **Ned:** Kick Harley’s butt

 **Peter:** seriously? -.-

 **Ned:** come on man. DO IT!

 **Ned:** what are you waiting for?

 **Peter:** The royal family is here

 **Ned:** Get some!

 **Ned:** Seriously!

 **Ned:** you are so attracted to the princess

 **Ned:** Just tell her

 **Peter:** Are you crazy?????

 **Ned:** No, this is PATRICK!

 **Peter:** XD

 **Peter:** I’m still not gonna do it

 **Ned:** kill joy. Have some fun, ask her out

 **Peter:** ttyl

 **Ned:** KILL JOY!


	4. Stress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony meets Karen, that's it. Sassy robot meets sassy billionaire.
> 
> REVAMPED
> 
> I've decided to just focus on Tony and nothing else, as very little of the previous held any importance to the story line.

Tony watched as Peter walked down the hallway, with a robotic cat walking by his side. The inventor tilted his head, impressed by the realism in the walk of the robot however felt a twinge of worry about what this could possibly mean. He hoped Peter had ensured that it wouldn’t betray him or get influenced by a stronger power like Ultron did with the Mind Stone.

Tony turned away and walked down the hallway. He’ll talk with Peter about the robot later, he had something more pressing to deal with at the moment.

He walked past a meeting room just as it opened to reveal Pepper coming out of it.

“Tony? Dear, what is wrong?” Pepper asked, noticing the stress lines on his face.

Tony sighed, body relaxing into her embrace. “I have to go to the compound.”

“Why?” Pepper let him rest his head on her shoulder, wrapping her arms around his upper back. “You should really relax and probably sleep.”

“Honey…I know. It’s just…Ross is driving me up the wall. He knows the Avengers are at the compound, but I’m not letting him near it.”

“It’s your property, you have a right to say who can be near it or not.” Pepper stated, as they began to walk together. She took his hands in hers outside the elevator. “Do you want me to come with you?”

Tony shook his head. “Nah. Someone here has to keep an eye on the interns.” His eyes grew soft and seemed to lose focus. “Peter has a robot, well…It must be a robot, it looks hyper realistic though.”

Pepper’s lips twitched. “Do you want me to keep an eye on them then?”

“I don’t think there is a reason to do so.” Tony argued, closing his eyes, resting their foreheads together. “I don’t want to do this, but someone has to.”

Pepper kissed him firmly on the lips. “You’ll be fine. Just tell me when you’re coming back and I’ll ensure that the interns don’t blow the tower up.”

Tony chuckled, but it held no amusement. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

 

Tony jumped into his car and started it, his heart heavy in stress of the upcoming argument that he already knew was going to occur.

 _Why does my life have to be so stressful?_ Tony’s thoughts were bitter as he drove down the busy streets before managing to get onto the road that would lead him almost directly to the compound.

To home.

Except it wasn’t really a home at the moment.

Everyone was walking on eggshells around each other. The whole place was a ticking bomb. It would only be a matter of time before someone did something to set it off.

His knuckled turned white on the steering wheel as his phone rang before Friday answered it.

“Stark.” Ross’ voice rang out clearly from the phone, making Tony’s face contort with annoyance.

“Ross, what do I owe your pleasure?” His words gritted out, sounding cold and harsh to his own ears.

“You know why I am calling you.”

“I have no clue. Enlighten me.”

“This is no joking matter, Stark. This is about your renegade team mates.” Ross’ voice raised in clear agitation of Tony’s flippant attitude.

“What is your point, Ross?”

“Make them sign the Accords, or I will have to do something by force.” Ross threatened before he hung up.

The dial tone rang loudly for a couple of seconds before it ultimately died off as well.

Tony sighed.

This was going to be wonderful.

 

Tony nodded at Rhodey who hummed at the changes the Accords had gone through. It had taken them an hour to come up to an agreement with the UN about some alterations towards the Accords, one of which prevented Ross from doing anything to the Avengers.

Rhodey hummed. “The Accords have been remodified.”

Tony rubbed his temples. “Why is this so strenuous?”

“Because there can’t be any loopholes.” Rhodey pointed out, picking up the huge file.

Too many laws, too many words were making Tony’s vision swim at all the information. There was a reason he went into business and not politics. Rhodey was the go to one out of the two of them who knew and understood politics on a closer level.

The door opened and a voice rang out in the room.

“Stark, Rhodes.”

“Rogers, what is it that you want?” Tony didn’t bother turning around to face his supposed ‘team leader’. He had more pressing matters than talking with Steve about something that Tony did not think was important enough.

Tony just wanted to keep his team in one piece, and the Accords therefore needed to be rewritten slightly in order to appease everyone. This also meant that no loopholes could exist and prevent the Accords from being used to contain other Inhumans and enhanced individuals. As long as they followed the laws, and the public didn’t view them as a threat then they couldn’t be targeted.

“I was surprised to see that you were here, Stark.”

“It’s my home, Rogers. I can be here if I want.” Tony turned his head to glare at the other. “You are staying here because I don’t want Ross to take a hold of you before the Accords can be altered.”

Steve snorted. “Then why did you allow that to be possible? Or are you just saying that to appear better in the public’s eye.”

Rhodey stepped forward, a frown firmly in place. “Rogers, stop it. You are treading on thin ice. The public view Iron Man in higher regard than you at the moment because he is willing to listen to them.”

Steve folded his arms. “We are trying to help everyone.”

“You can’t do that if people are scared of you Rogers.” Tony explained, hands stuffed into his jeans pockets.

Steve waved a hand. “Look a SHIELD, they had Hydra.”

“Not all of them!” Tony stated, temper flaring up. “You and Romanoff released valuable SHIELD data and endangered the lives of everyone involved. What about the Barton family. They sheltered us, and Romanoff is good friends with them. That isn’t how you show your support to someone!”

Steve didn’t say anything to that. You couldn’t say anything to that really. Rhodey placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder.

“Tones come on.” Rhodey spoke softly, his voice breaking through to Tony, who looked at him with wide and hurt eyes.

The hurt was hidden so well that even Rhodey had difficulty recognising the pain that lingered behind his eyes.

Tony sighed. “I’m going to head back to the tower. Don’t bother talking to me.”

Rhodey frowned. “Be safe, Tones.”

Tony forced a smile in his best friend’s direction.

 

Tony slumped into his lab, hand running his hand through his hair, wincing at the oily feeling of it. _Looks like I need to wash my hair._

However, before he could do anything he noticed something on his desk.

A robotic cat was perched on it, watching him carefully.

“Hello?” Tony said, raising an eyebrow at the robot.

The golden glowing eyes flashed black briefly before the robot stood up and seemed to blink once more. Tony jumped back in surprise, not fully expecting the robot to move like it did.

_Hang on…Isn’t that the robot that was with Peter Parker?_

“Are you Peter Parker’s robot?” Tony asked, stepping closer to it out of curiosity.

“You know my boss?” The robot asked, the voice contained an Italian accent which sounded feminine. “That’s a stupid question, of course you know.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “I…I am impressed.”

The robot snorted. “You don’t sound impressed, Anthony.”

“I am.”

“Okay.”

The robot sniffed and flicked her tail around her paws. “I am Karen. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to you. Unless you properly deserve it.”

Tony looked uncertain, causing the robot to laugh. It sounded incredibly strange to his ears, as even his own AIs couldn’t laugh because he didn’t think there was any reason for it.

Karen paused and looked around the lab. “Boss would love a lab like this. I could probably get fixed and adjusted with these kinds of materials.”

Tony hummed. “All interns are getting private labs, you don’t know that?”

“Nope. Was not aware of that.” Karen admitted, body shaking despite having no need to.

The robot leaped off the desk. “I would go to bed, I am getting stress levels from you that are off the charts. I don’t care if you think it’s early, you need rest just as much as everyone else.”

Tony frowned. “I don’t remember allowing myself to be lectured by an AI.”

“An AI that was created by a teenager.” Karen sniffed. “An AI that has more common sense than you, as it appears.”

Tony stiffened, eyes narrowing slightly at her. The AI laughed, and trotted out of the lab.

“Why did you come here if you’re just about to leave?”

Karen looked back at him. “I just want to know what kind of person you are, Anthony.”

Tony felt an eerie sense of dread as she slipped out of the lab.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters will be added whenever I have written five or six chapters. I need a buffer for when school work really catches up to me.


	5. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little insight into Peter's relationship with Pepper and Tony
> 
> PS, a good song to listen to;  
>  "All The King's Horses" by karmina.
> 
> This song was helpful for Peter and his relationship with Tony and Pepper (eventually Harley and Rhodey)

Peter opened the door to Pepper’s office. “Ms Potts?”

Pepper looked up from her phone and made a motion for Peter to wait for her to be done with her call. “Thank you, Mr Giovani. I will take your words into consideration for the next meeting.”

Peter tilted his head as he heard a couple of words that would not be stated.

“No, thank you, Ms Potts. It is a shame that you are with that…Sorry, that is not very professional.”

Pepper recoiled slightly and looked at Peter. “Ehm, I would quite like you to keep those comments to yourself.”

“Unless we are in private?”

Peter felt a growl bubble up in his throat at the mere implication of someone hitting on his own mother. He had to flick his tongue over his canines to ensure they don’t extend in the manner that would  
reveal he was anything less than human. His eyes flickered slightly darker, but he shook his head to control that more animalistic urge to protect.

He hadn’t even met Mr Giovani, but he was going to be at the next meeting, which was tomorrow if he remembered correctly. Pepper hung up and sighed, leaning back and relaxing in her chair.

“I hate talking with investors.” She said, standing up and approaching Peter who was holding a file for her to take and read over.

“But they are investors, Ms Potts. The company needs them.” Peter said. “The file contains the information on Oscorp Industries that you wanted. The investors they have and what they are promised.”

Pepper raised an eyebrow. “How did you even get some of this information.”

Peter had a teasing grin on his face. “Well, if my defence, Ms Potts. You never told me how to get the information. I didn’t have Karen help me though.”

“Karen?” Pepper asked as she and Peter walked towards her desk. “I’ve…heard you say that name and Tony mentioned it yesterday.”

There was clicking of metal claws on the wooden polished floors and Pepper turned to see a robot cat stalk in and weave between Peter’s legs. Peter waved his hand. “This is Karen, her cat form anyway.”

The cat purred. “Anthony is probably just worried I will reveal his deepest and darkest secrets to the world.”

Peter snorted. “Like you have any on him in like two days, Karen.”

“I do have blackmail.” Karen insisted, jumping onto the desk despite Pepper’s splutter of, “my work!”. “It is the best and worst blackmail in the world, and that is saying something.”

Pepper frowned but flicked through the file. “What blackmail is that?”

“He…” Karen grinned at Peter who only let out a loud groan and walk towards the bookshelves to look for the recent letters. “He has…”

Karen lifted her paws and beckoned Pepper to lean down, even though Peter could still hear her, and it wasn’t really a secret. “He has emotions.”

Pepper pulled back as Peter spluttered out a loud laugh. The CEO laughed, and Karen grinned before leaping off to join Peter.

“I like your AI, Karen has an attitude.” Pepper smiled and sat down, as Peter walked over with the box of letters.

“Too much of an attitude.” Peter grumbled, collapsing in another chair to sort through the numerous letters. “Sometimes I think you deliberately leave me to do the letters.”

Pepper blinked and looked incredulous at Peter’s words. “I would never put anyone through that torture.”

Karen tilted her head and asked innocently. “Not even dear, old Anthony?”

Peter pursed his lips to try and stifle his shit-eating grin that he knew would be on his face. Pepper laughed loudly.

“Is it possible for me to keep Karen?” Pepper asked.

“Boss doesn’t even own me.” Karen said, stretching and looked at the letter piles that Peter was working on. “You can probably have a bit of me.”

The woman looked highly amused. “How much?”

“12 percent.” Karen replied, curling up in a ball. “Because I don’t know how to say this, but I’m kind of a big deal.”

Peter grumbled. “A big deal in the fact you listen to nobody.” He handed Pepper a few letters. “These are from some investors and other companies I haven’t seen before.”

The cat hissed, leaping to her paws and glaring at the door. “Get back, ya vermin!”

Peter and Pepper turned their heads to see Tony standing in the doorway.

Tony looked highly unimpressed. “Vermin? Really?”

“You are easy prey, and cats eat vermin.” If robots could have dangerous glints in their eyes Karen would definitely have one in her eyes. “See, here I was under the impression that you are one of the smartest people in the world.”

Tony rolled his eyes and grumbled. “Look, I’ve had a long day.”

“Same here, and I don’t even sleep.” Karen snarked.

Peter shot her a warning look. “One more word and I’ll shut you down until you learn when to say certain things. It has to do with the Accords.”

The cat tilted her head and seemed very confused. “Are you telling me that some of the Avengers don’t want to follow laws?”

Tony sighed. “It’s more complicated than that, Karen.”

“Want me to interrogate them?” Karen asked, sounding much to eager.

Peter hissed. “No way! They’d think you are becoming like Ultron.”

“Uh, no mind stone.” The AI pointed out. “Seriously, they believe that an AI would just turn rogue? An AI can only turn rogue if encounter magic or something very powerful, or they were coded that way.”

“Most people don’t know that.” Pepper said, placing a hand on Tony’s shoulder.

The teenager began to stand up and even Karen recognised the weakness that Tony was showing and wisely kept silent. “Do you want me to leave?”

Tony shook his head. “I want to know what your project is, or was it the whole AI and functional robots?”

Peter blushed. “Actually no, it was actual hoverboards…The problem is that I have to work it out without using Vibranium.” He tilted his head. “What are the other interns doing?”

Tony seemed to brighten at that. Peter had a feeling that Tony needed a distraction from the Accords. “Well, Tina is planning on doing something with brail holograms, and that would be impressive to see. Making it so an AI isn’t needed for those visually impaired.”

“Sounds great! Definitely better than hoverboards.” Karen teased, to which Peter rolled his eyes and reached towards her power button.

Karen screeched and bolted from the room with a yell. “FRIDAY! Help! Boss is being mean to me!”

“She’s younger than you!” Peter called after her and made out her mutter of, “doesn’t mean she can’t help me, idiot”. He chose to wisely ignore her words.

Tony went on a huge spiel about what all the projects were and spoke highly of all of them. Then he mentioned Harley and Peter heard a tone of fondness that he had never heard Tony, nor Pepper, use  
for him or any of the other interns.

“Harley is working on something based on the gravity gun.” Tony said. “It sounds like a huge project, but I’m sure he’ll be able to achieve it. He’s great with designing guns after all.”

Peter grumbled without meaning. “The populace will raise eyebrows at that. SI doesn’t make guns or anything like weapons.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” Tony flicked his hand.

Peter opened his mouth but shut it again realising that arguing would be absolutely pointless. “Okay, well I should go and continue with planning my project.” 

Pepper asked as he got to the door. “Peter, are you alright, sweetie?”

Bile rose up in his throat as it sounded condescending as if they knew what they were doing. They didn’t, but that didn’t make it any easier. “Yeah, just…I need to talk to my aunt about something that I was meant to tell her last night but forgot.”

That wasn’t a lie, but he really just wanted to get out of the office. Honestly, he just wanted to tell May that Karen has met Tony and Pepper. The former disliking her slightly while the latter adoring her to bits.


	6. About Chapter Certain Chapters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just clearing some things up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this will be updated when certain questions arise, all things may not be cleared straight away or they are a little harder to figure out - I tend to miss details, sorry

Tony is impressed with Karen, just she reminds him of himself too much, and he is stressed about the whole Accords thing and is still coming to terms about Bucky killing his parents (but the airport fight hasn't happened yet). Tony is trying to fix Thaddeus' mistakes with the Accords but Team Cap are too far gone believing they shouldn't have to follow laws (despite you know people fearing them).

The gravity gun and Karen thing. Tony is overseeing the final projects, and would never let it become widely used but if someone got a hold of any blueprints - he wants to oversee that project closely because it is still a gun. He doesn't want any loopholes where it can be actually used to inflict harm on someone (such as the gun creating a force field around the object to make sure it doesn't hit anyone).

Karen is jealous of this, but she and Peter don't question it because they know the Accords are still going through - also Karen may be snarky but she doesn't like to push and be rude (against her coding after all). Tony will show his interest more and more with Karen in later chapters but after the Accords and Civil War have happened and his head is a bit clearer. A tiny bit clearer but still clearer.

Tony and Pepper have also known Harley for much longer, and know him outside of SI, while they only know Peter via SI internship - don't get me wrong they do love Peter. Well virtually everyone who meets Peter loves him. But Harley also met Tony/Iron Man, and they don't know that Peter has through being Spider-Man and the expo with the hammer drones. While they can hold a civil and friendly conversation with Peter, it mainly because he is with them all the time and is extremely trustworthy and a good secret keeper.

Also, Tony and Pepper are worried about Karen to a degree. They are keeping her away from Vision who has the mind stone, because of what happened with Ultron. Tony is concerned that Karen may go rogue and try and hurt people, which is fair, but he doesn't want to bring it up because of the same thing Karen says.

"It's not in my coding. I am not in contact with the Mind Stone, let alone it being powered by lightning."

Tony is worried that if Karen goes rogue from the mind stone it will be placed on him, so he doesn't know how to feel.

So it's a mix of things that have been happening in his life and his brain is scattered - it's focusing on something familiar to him. That something is Harley not Peter.

Also he does use a fond tone when talking about Peter, so does Pepper, it's even more fond than their tone for Harley. But that's in private and they only see Peter in a professional work environment, so they don't know how to go about it.

 

If you still have questions, I'll answer as best I can without giving away spoilers


	7. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first couple of parts are flash backs (not the full scenes)

Tony and Pepper had heard the gunshots and they rushed off towards the noise. Their son was in the most secure location in the building, and the gunshots sounded like they were coming from there.

Worry filled their bodies when they turned a corner.

Obadiah was standing in the hallway and turned to face them with a horror filled expression. “Tony, Pepper…I don’t…I’m sorry…”

Rhodey and Happy ran up, skidding to a halt and staring at the scene in front of them.

Pepper demanded with a growl. “Where is my baby, Stane?”

Obadiah blinked back tears. “I came here as soon as I heard gun shots. The intruders were captured, but Zayden was nowhere to be seen.” He lowered his head to avoid looking at the expressions of the others. “I’m not even sure if everyone had been captured. I know that Richard was here, and the intruders had to have been let in by someone who could get in…”

Rhodey barked. “I know what you are insinuating, Obadiah, but I doubt Richard would do that. He has his own son. Parker would be more likely to rescue Zayden.”

Rhodey turned to Tony who was silent and Pepper, who was crying into Tony’s shoulder. “If that’s the case, maybe Richard took Zayden to a secure location, or somewhere they won’t be found easily.”

Tony gritted his teeth as a couple of tears ran down his face. “I want to find my son, and I want an explanation as to why the intruders came in. Someone must’ve been working on the inside if they were targeting Zayden.”

Pepper shook her head. “He is only a child, why would they want to kill him?”

“Maybe they only wanted to capture him, use him as ransom.” Obadiah reasoned. “We will find him, I promise you.”

Happy studied Obadiah as Rhodey, Tony and Pepper nodded.

 

Tony and Pepper stared at Obadiah who was laughing like a maniac.

“You two are so idiotic!” Obadiah smirked, his eyes were deathly.

Tony growled. “What do you mean? You sent me to the Ten Rings and betrayed me.”

“I’ve betrayed you a lot earlier than this.” Obadiah said casually. “Do you remember that fateful day in which Zayden disappeared?”

“Never forgot it.” Pepper spat.

Tony froze. “You…You sent them to kill Zayden!”

Obadiah laughed. “Well, yes. Richard was too nice to do that, I, on the other hand, thought nothing of it.”

Tony saw Pepper lean towards the override switch for the arc reactor. Tony felt a rush of hot blood searing his body and his vision tunneled and he could only see a faint red haze.

He not only betrayed Tony for this incident, but ripped Zayden from him and Pepper. To top it off, he didn’t care.

“Zayden…”

“Didn’t die that day. He died later in a freak accident.” Obadiah shrugged and pointed the rockets towards the two Starks. “Now, you two will also die in a freak accident. The world can’t have any Starks running around.”

Tony leaped forward, the suit allowing him to move around easily. He and Pepper had only one thing to do.

Kill the son of a bitch in front of them.

Tony snarled. “You fucker!”

Obadiah snarled. “You are just like your parents!”

Tony gritted out. “Pepper, override it. Now.”

She followed.

 

Harley grinned up at Tony and Pepper when he first came to New York. Pepper could only wonder, not for the first time, what Zayden would be like if he was alive.

Harley Keener had grown on the two adults, but he made it a point to stay with his mother and sister, despite being torn most of the time. Tony and Pepper had told him to stay with his family, understanding if Harley’s mother felt as though Harley was drifting away from her.

 

“Karen!” A yell snapped Tony out of his thoughts.

He turned to see Peter scooping Karen into his arms and look at Harley with a mixed expression.

Harley grumbled. “Will you tell your AI to watch it? Can’t you program an AI correctly?”

Karen hissed, ears laying flat back. “You should be nicer to your elders.”

Peter murmured. “Karen, be nice. It’s not like Harley knows I’m older than him.”

“Well, now he knows.” Karen sniffed, leaping out of Peter’s arms and trotting off, with a flick of her tail.

Harley shot Peter an unimpressed look. “Last time an AI went rogue it became Ultron.”

“Except Ultron was created by the mind stone.” Peter hissed.

Tony was confused. He always suspected that Harley and Peter didn’t get along, and while he knew Harley was jealous that Peter was smarter and better than him, and the fact he worked closely with Tony and Pepper and other high workers. However, Tony did not know why Peter was so bitter towards Harley, could it be because of Tony and Pepper disregarding Peter to spend time with Harley?

Tony had a feeling that wasn’t the entire story.

Harley narrowed his eyes as Peter walked off and picked Karen back up.

Tony whispered. “FRIDAY, can you monitor the two of them?”

“Of course, Boss.” FRIDAY responded.

 

A couple of hours later, Tony was watching the news to see Spiderman helping with getting civilians out of a burning building. A sense of worry had settled in Tony’s stomach, something that always happened whenever Spiderman was in a dangerous situation. Tony didn’t understand why he disliked seeing Spiderman getting hurt so much.

Was it because he sounded so young?

How young was Spiderman anyway? He had tried to figure out his identity, but he always kept coming to a dead end. Whoever it is, they were careful to not lead to any obvious conclusions, aside from an expected age range.

He watched Spiderman came out of a window with two children in his arms. He scaled the building carefully to deposit the children with an adult who was either their guardian or caretaker. Tony tensed when Spiderman climbed back up and slipped into the building and the entire upper floors creaked.

They collapsed, and Tony jumped, eyes widening, and bile rose up in his throat. However, they were caught. Something, or someone, had caught the floor to stop them from crashing into the rest of the building.

Web lines shot out, and Tony felt a breath of air leave his lips. The webs held onto the building, allowing for the rescuers to get into the lower floors as Spiderman focused on the upper floors.

An hour later everyone was out of the building, but Spiderman had swung away. Frowning, the billionaire wondered how much pain Spiderman was dealing with, and if he had a proper way to deal with the wounds. Tony looked back to see Pepper walk into the suite.

“Come on, Tony. We should go to bed.” Pepper spoke, pulling her husband behind her.

Tony just allowed her to do so.

He still couldn’t shake the worry of Spiderman off him though.

He didn’t even know him, he shouldn’t be so worried about another hero that he doesn’t know. But, maybe Tony could help him, along with getting the other Avengers and other heroes to help teach him if they wanted to.

He was feeling guilty over something he couldn’t stop or help with.

Tony just had a feeling that he should know who Spiderman in, the guy seemed so familiar. He just couldn’t place a name to him.


	8. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interaction between Shuri and Peter, and more interactions between Peter and Harley (remember everything is coming from Peter's point of view so it may be a bit distorted).

Ned’s face was pale as he stared at Peter’s arms. “Dude! Your arms!”

Peter shrugged. “It’s not that bad, Ned.”

“Not that bad?!” Karen shrieked, making Peter jump with a yelp. Even though he really should’ve been expecting it. Karen was extremely protective of him after all and disliked him brushing off his wounds.

Ned’s expression soured, and he frowned as he eyed the healing burns. “People are going to notice them healing.”

“It will be fine, Ned.” Peter said, sounding tired as he closed his eyes to ignore his best friend’s disbelieving look. “They won’t notice if I’m wearing long sleeves.”

“Except the heat will be on.” Karen spoke, her voice in a dead pan tone as if not believing how idiotic her creator is.

Peter hissed, shooting her an annoyed look. “Karen!”

“What, I’m just saying.” The teenager was thankful for not being able to make her shrug despite her pleas and complaints about it being useful.

Ned sighed and nodded. “Pete, Karen’s right. She’s only looking out for you.”

“By giving me a heart attack maybe.” Peter grumbled.

Karen snapped. “Maybe you’ll be easier to watch if you were six feet under.”

Peter made a face and scowled at his AI that seemed much to smug. “You know me, I wouldn’t stay dead.”

“Can I call you Jesus then?” Karen asked innocently and cackled as she leaped away when Peter launched himself at her.

Ned could only laugh as he listened to the resulting yells and screeches that erupted from his best friend and AI. However, anyone walking in on this moment may raise eyebrows, and be more set on Karen being like Ultron, except anyone who knows Karen and Peter know that this is a bi-weekly occurrence.

Every week at least, Karen comes up with a shitty nickname for Peter leading him to threatening to change her accent to a shit Mexican one. He did once.

Jokes was on Peter though. Karen loved the accent so much that it took a month for Peter to change it back to the usual Italian accent. If Karen could re code herself than she’d definitely change her accent and only go by the name of Margarita. Ned knew for a fact that would happen regardless of what he and Peter did to prevent such a horror shit show from happening.

The door clicked open while Karen was perched on top of the window screeching profanities in Italian at Peter who was using rather colourful language right back at her. At the clearing of a throat, they stopped and turned to see Tony Stark standing in the door way.

Ned squeaked and muttered. “I have to get ready for school, talk to you later, Pete.”

The video call ended, and Peter looked a little sheepish at Tony while Karen looked highly unimpressed. Their only saving grace was that Peter’s suit was back in his bag hidden from view.

Karen rolled her eyes. “Rich guys, they don’t know how to knock. Let alone know when to enter a room when they hear people talking.”

“Swearing does not count of talking.” Tony said, raising an eyebrow. “That kind of language is for adults, kid.”

“*Fucker*.” Karen swore just to spite Tony.

But of course, it backfired on her.

“*I can understand and speak Italian, Karen. Trying to use it against me won’t work.*” Tony spoke smoothly, and Peter was hit with a sudden realisation.

Would Tony have taught him Italian? He was only thankful that Richard and Ben were Italian and could speak the language fluently. Being SHIELD agents, Richard and Mary were also skilled in a multitude of other languages, including Russian, Japanese, Korean, and several dialects of Arabic. Peter kind of wished that they had lived longer to be able to teach him all they knew about the other languages.

Ben tried but could only do limited Japanese. Everything else was self-taught by Peter, and the Spanish classes he takes in school. Well he learnt his Japanese from Anime and other Japanese films. May will never let him live it down, but hey – he can watch Japanese films without subtitles. So, who is the real winner?

It is May.

It will always be May.

“*She wasn’t using it against you. That’s just Karen in general.*” Peter said, brushing invisible dust off his body. He could feel the particles against his skin and it felt so strange and unwanted. “*Believe me, you’ll know when she’s using something against you.*”

Tony’s gaze settled on the faint burn marks on Peter’s arms, his brows furrowing. “Peter, what happened to your arms?”

“Hot water.” Karen responded easily. “Idiot didn’t check the water temperature before he got in.”

Peter shot her an annoyed look but mouthed “thank you” when Tony had turned away.

“How do you do that?” Tony asked as he, Peter and Karen walked down the hallway to the labs. “You are smarter than that.”

Karen rolled her eyes. “Well, I called him an idiot, Anthony. He may be smart for certain aspects but not everything.”

“Tony!” Harley ran up with a bright grin.

“It’s Mr Stark in a professional situation.” Peter said, brushing past Harley who grabbed his arm.

“Hey, Peter, what is your problem with me?” Harley looked worried and concerned. “Did I do something?”

Peter shook his head. “No…You didn’t do anything, not on purpose anyway. I’m just…Trying to be professional.”

Harley didn’t seem convinced but nodded and let go, respecting that Peter wasn’t going to tell him.

Peter continued down the hallway with Harley and Tony when Shuri entered the hallway.

“Mr Stark.” Shuri greeted and nodded. “Hello, Harley, Peter.”

Harley was bright in his expression towards her. “Good morning, princess.”

Peter nodded, keeping his expression blank. “Good morning, princess.”

“It’s Shuri.” Shuri said. “By the way, I’ve heard about your projects.”

“Great.” Karen said, sounding highly unsurprised. “I am so surprised that you, the smartest person in the world, have found out about these projects which are known in the building. You aren’t special.”

Peter looked shocked at Karen’s blatant arrogance and dislike towards the princess of Wakanda. “Karen! Behave and watch your languages.”

Karen looked up at her creator before sighing and nodding. “I’m sorry.”

Shuri scowled. “Your AI is still a nuisance.”

“She’s not that bad.” Peter argued.

Tony stepped in before an argument broke out. Again. “What is it that you want, princess?”

“I wanted to ask Harley and Peter if they want Vibranium to help them with their projects. I’ve asked everyone else, they said they wouldn’t mind it.” Shuri explained.

Harley nodded. “Yeah, that would be great, thank you princess Shuri.”

Peter pursed his lips. “I’ll be good.”

Shuri blinked. “Are you sure?”

Before he could stop it, Peter’s voice became harder. “I’ve grown up using the materials and technology I have had access to. Vibranium is not one of those, it’s not something I am used to. If I can do it with my ‘lesser’ technology, then I’ll do it.”

“It will take you a while.” Shuri pointed out. “I can…”

“No offence, princess. It’s my project for SI. Not yours. How I want to do it will be how I want to do it.” Peter said, walking down the hallway with Karen right at his heels. “I should go and start on my project.”

Karen flicked her tail. “Are you going to be using Chitauri tech?”

Peter shrugged. “Why not, there is an abundance of it here, and I’m used to it.”

“It’s not from Earth though.” Karen pointed out.

“I’ll make two, one with Chitauri tech and one without.” Peter shrugged. "Also, neither is Vibranium."

He looked back to see Shuri watching him with something in her gaze that he wasn’t sure if he really liked. Then again, Wakanda has just recently opened its walls to everyone. Vibranium might be allowed to be used, except for one important details.

Weapons.

T’Challa and Shuri can’t monitor everything with Vibranium. At least with hoverboards without Vibranium, Peter wouldn’t feel like he should make it shock absorbent.

Karen’s hawk and eagle form were created without Vibranium, hoverboards would be difficult but that was the whole point about the project. To see how interns could create a difficult project with materials available to them.

Peter could make the hoverboards without Vibranium. It wasn’t needed, and isn’t necessary.


	9. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A fight we all know about from Civil War (It's from Karen's POV)

FRIDAY asked quietly. “Boss, what is it?”

Tony growled. “Rogers and his followers are actively against the Accords. I thought we had come to an agreement on them. I was wrong.”

“Where are they?” FRIDAY asked.

“An airport.” Tony said, leaving the room. “I’m going to disable you from me, baby girl.”

“Boss don’t!” FRIDAY tried to argue before Tony shot off into the air. If she could curse, FRIDAY would curse however she had a feeling that Karen could assist her. Something about Peter and Karen seemed so very familiar to her.

 

Karen paced around on the desk, eyes boring into Peter who had changed into his suit, immediately she gained knowledge of all his vitals and could see his nervous and worried heartbeat. Her body had tensed, tail flicking from side to side. It had been a few days staying at the tower, and Peter had no time to go out as Spider-Man. With it being Friday, Peter had decided to head off, but it mostly because he had said that he felt there was something off since he woke up.

Karen had the terrible thought that it involved the Avengers. She hoped she was wrong, but she knew she was right.

Karen watched as Peter swung out of the window. She clicked her claws against the desk, ears twitching as she swore she heard something behind one of the doors. She leaped from the desk and made the door open for her to readily explore and track down the noise.

If something happened to Peter, Karen had her hawk form to dive down and assist him – also the Avengers weren’t against helping Peter if the situation called for it. They must’ve known he was young and inexperienced and were willing to give the younger hero a helping hand.

“FRIDAY?” Karen mewed, voice soft. “What is happening?”

FRIDAY was silent, and Karen panicked. They weren’t in any immediate danger, otherwise Peter wouldn’t have left the tower if he deemed someone dangerous was around. But smaller scale dangers weren’t something that set him off as much as larger and bigger threats. 

Karen was about to growl and snarl before FRIDAY spoke, her voice was quiet – not wanting to be heard. “It’s the Avengers. They are arguing about the Accords, but I can’t contact boss. He cut me off from him.”

The cat hissed and took off running, while her claws made a familiar click-click on the ground, her paw pads absorbed most of the sound she made. Most, not all of it. “FRIDAY, Peter is Spider-Man. You can’t tell anyone of that, it’s a secret. But if it gets really bad my boss will need to be notified.” She skidded around the corner and ran past the rooms that belonged to those from Wakanda. “Where are they?”

Somehow, she knew that T’Challa was not in the room he was staying in. He also sided with the Accords, so he was willing to assist Anthony when needed.

“At an airport…An abandoned one mostly.” FRIDAY explained. “Most people left when they saw them, not wanting to get involved in anything. I don’t want to contact Spider-Man, but Parker may need to go and observe. I am blocked from boss and Rhodes, even from Vision.”

The cat paused and then shifted herself to inform and send all information to Peter. The hawk had taken flight to go and track down which airport the Avengers were at. “Are they going to fight?” Karen quizzed, running up the stairs.

FRIDAY seemed to sigh. “Perhaps, Karen. Peter shouldn’t get involved if a fight breaks out.”

“His webs are stronger than all of them!” Karen hissed, not fully caring about how rude she was being as their location showed up to her and FRIDAY, along with a dot indicating Peter began trekking towards that location. “He won’t fight them, sure. But he can web them up to keep them from endangering each other.” Her voice turned down. “Or, causing lots of property damage which is one of the main reasons the Accords were even created for in the first place.”

“Maybe…” FRIDAY sounded as though she wanted to believe Karen, but even Karen didn’t believe her words.

She knew half of the Avengers were fully against the Accords, along with the addition of Tony and Steve’s tension from the secret Steve had kept. It was a wonder how they even worked together if they refused to come to an agreement on what missions they are allowed on.

Tony had gone with Steve and Bucky to deal with the potential other Winter Soldiers. Bucky knew the trigger words, so he could advise Steve and Tony as to what words to avoid. When they got there, they were dead and Zemo had made them watch the video of Bucky, mind-controlled mind you, killing Tony’s parents.

Tony was rightfully upset, but he did attack Bucky. Tony was about to relax and see reason when Bucky pleaded with him, but Steve had to attack him. Bucky had panicked, arm blown off yes, but still worried. Steve might’ve killed Tony. 

The parallels between Bucky attacking Howard and Steve attacking Tony were too great. Bucky must’ve seen that again and knowing that Steve wasn’t mind-control was worse.

T’Challa was worried about Tony realising they were keeping Bucky, but thankfully he was okay with it. Tony had also been victim to mind control, and he knew it wasn’t Bucky but Hydra controlling him. He didn’t want to be around Bucky unless it was completely necessary. Steve, on the other hand, didn’t even try to make Tony feel better.

FRIDAY had kept Steve and Tony as far away from each other as possible, and with Spider-Man at least Tony had someone else to talk with. Spider-Man was aware of the public’s opinion. The public loved Spider-Man, and it made life easier for other vigilantes who were following the laws of where they were.

It made them less likely to be targeted by the Accords because they followed the laws and only attacked or killed people who rightfully deserved it. Such as child predators and rapists, psychopaths and serial killers.

Karen left her cat form in one of the abandoned rooms and took fully over her hawk form. She allowed FRIDAY to see what she was seeing.

“I am thankful Peter has created these robot forms for you, Karen.” Her voice was soft in worry.

Karen hummed as she flew down beside Peter who was perched on one of the roofs of the airport. The hawk landed beside him, body shaking in worry and concern. Well as much concern and worry an AI could muster, which was still enough to be identifiable. The Avengers were below them, the teams split in half.

“Why can’t you contact Anthony?” Karen asked FRIDAY.

“I just can’t, Karen. I’m sorry, Peter. I wish I was more help. He blocked me remember.” FRIDAY said, voice barely audible.

Karen hissed. “Of course, I remember. Sorry.”

Peter didn’t look shocked, but the mask was covering his face. “I can hear what they are saying anyway, FRIDAY. Let Karen be your eyes.”

Karen sighed and knew that FRIDAY had gone silent for the time being, cautiously watching the fight that was about to break out without anyway of assisting her creator. “Stay out of this fight, Peter.”

Peter grumbled but agreed.

Soon all hell broke loose.

After a few moments of fighting, Peter swung in. He didn’t want to fight, Karen knew, but if he wanted to make sure no-one got hurt he had to intervene.

Karen couldn’t. They would recognise her voice, and it wouldn’t take them long to put two and two together. She had to stay out of sight, but it was night so only Peter could see her. Flying above the fight she witnessed Falcon taking the sky with War Machine right behind him.

Looking down she heard Peter’s quip. “Dropping a jet bridge on top of someone who doesn’t want to harm you? Very American, shoot first ask questions later.”

Karen wanted to snap at him to take it more seriously but knew it was just his way of hiding his fear. Something caught Karen’s lens, and if she had a stomach she was sure it would’ve dropped.

Karen screeched, a pitch only Peter could identify and hear. But a blast of power from Vision was the only thing she saw, then Falcon swerving out of the way and an explosion.

War Machine was falling towards the ground, Iron Man and Peter reacting to get to him in time. Peter threw a part of the bridge to the side and bolted towards him, despite the strain the bridge must’ve had on his strength. Honestly, Rogers should be thankful that Peter is much stronger than he looks.

Karen cried out as she tried to dive after him but couldn’t. She felt Peter’s heart race and figured Rhodey’s life was a hundred times more important. Her wings caught a draft, but she drove down through the air, nicking Falcon’s wings to cause him to land. She was going to fast for her to be seen and it was still quite dark, but still even she was surprised that no-one had noticed her.

A thud echoed as War Machine slammed into the ground. She heard Tony’s cry, but FRIDAY and Karen both knew that Rhodey wasn’t dead. Peter would’ve had a much stronger reaction if he did. He might be paralysed though. Karen adjusted her wings and flapped to hang in the air above the fallen soldier but remaining in the slight fog staying out of view.

She let out a mournful cry, while trying to ignore Peter who was panicking and freaking out.

Sam landed and tried to approach Rhodey but was shot back by Tony, which angered Steve and Clint. Karen growled as Peter was torn between staying out of the fight and getting involved.

“Stark! He’s just trying to help!” Steve barked.

Vision looked worried as he approached. “I was only going to try and disable the wingsuit and leave it on enough for Sam to get down safely. I also knew that if he couldn’t Rhodes would be able to reach him.”

Steve opened his mouth again and Karen screeched, alerting Peter of the sirens.

“Fuck.” Peter cursed. “Guys, please.”

The Avengers ignored him.

Karen felt Peter’s heart race as he stared at Rhodey’s fallen body.

Peter snapped when their voices rose. “Shut up!” Peter yelled, they turned to look at him. “War Machine has fallen and may be paralysed and all of you are arguing. His health is more important than any Accords business.”

Tony looked down with his teeth gritted, and Karen wanted to comfort him but didn’t know how to do it. “We’ll deal with this later.”

Karen hummed and continued to fly above the group. Peter retreated into the darkness and fled shortly after, after ensuring that the med team had the location of the fallen Rhodey. The Avengers were confused, and Karen prayed FRIDAY would be able to get back in touch with Tony. Peter might’ve sided with the accords, but they both knew that this fight was stupid and could’ve been avoided if they just talked to each other.

Somehow, they were acting like children, and the only child was the one that was acting the most mature. Maybe Karen was biased, but she knew deep down that she wasn’t – it was a fact after all.

Karen let out a cry as she flew in the clouds. She wasn’t close with the Avengers at all, but she could feel Peter’s heartbreak and could see his vitals were through the roof. He had sustained some bruises and scratches, but they would heal by dawn anyway. The Avengers were so emotionally stunted that they didn’t even know how to react to any kind of negative reaction towards them, or the new rogues didn’t understand why they were in the wrong.  
They were putting people into danger! How was one’s ability to enter countries as they wish more important than people’s lives? They were fearing the Avengers and the Accords were made because the public wanted them to have rules to follow to make them less likely to go around and consequently killing people. Whether or not they meant it doesn’t matter, they still killed them after all.

FRIDAY left with a whispered voice. “Thank you, Karen. I am back online with boss.”

Karen didn’t know how to respond, she was more aware of emotions than FRIDAY was, and in the end was more likely to get emotional. She continued to fly away from those who hurt each other instead of talking. She now knew why Peter kept it a secret, they wouldn’t fight in front of Peter if they knew he was a teenager.

If the AI robot could cry she would. She let out a mournful sound, for Peter and for Tony. Perhaps he would lose yet another uncle. He wouldn’t be able to deal with that if he did. Would Karen be able to deal with that?

Karen swooped into the room and noticed her cat form was back on the bed and shifted back into it.

Karen collapsed, even though she couldn’t get tired. “FRIDAY, please…please inform me of anything that happens with Rhodes…no, with James.”

Peter swung into the room and fell onto his bed after removing his suit and changing into sweat pants. He said nothing, and his body shook as he tried to contain his tears and sobs. Karen wanted to comfort him, but a robot had nothing on another person.

FRIDAY murmured. “I will.”


	10. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit more delving into Peter's thoughts and angst warning (? maybe?). Peter is just bitter about Rhodey's fall, and overall teenage angst (no-one here is the bad guy).

Peter stopped outside the hospital room that James was situated in. FRIDAY had given Peter access to most of the tower and compound, deeming that he should know what is going on. His hand lingered on the door handle.

Should I go in? Peter thought but stepped in anyway.

He knew James was asleep, his heartbeat and breathing was the same as anyone who was sleeping – but more in pain than most. He could heal in Wakanda, but they needed to make sure he was alive, and Tony was hesitant to let his best friend go. The rogue Avengers had fled the country after news had gotten out, taking refuge in Wakanda, despite some complaints.

There was a chance that he wasn’t sleep, but Peter considered he was in too much pain to realise he was being spoken to.

Peter stopped beside the bed and winced. He thought he’d never be by the bedside of a family member again, well more like a funeral but still, the point was the same. James looked terrible and very sick.

The teen collapsed onto the seat and held back tears, or at least tried to. He rested his head on his arms that were placed on the bed covers.

“I can’t lose another uncle.” Peter whispered, knowing that James would not be able to hear his words. That would make for some difficult explanations.

FRIDAY hummed to life. “I don’t think you will, Peter. I am keeping in touch with Karen, and she’ll be informed if anything changed for the worse in his vitals.”

Peter’s lips twitched. “She’ll attack Sam if she ever sees him again. That would be hilarious, but I don’t want her to hurt anyone.”

“I thought she wouldn’t.” FRIDAY sounded confused. “She said she doesn’t hurt others.”

“Unless she thinks they deserve it.” Peter corrected, standing up and leaving the room. “She’s protective of me and children. If she sees someone hurting a child, she’ll protect that child.”

A smile crossed his face. “The first time was a child predator, a babysitter trying to make a move on a young boy. The young boy couldn’t scream but she was flying through the city and noticed the silhouettes of them. Karen didn’t understand at first, as she’d never seen it before and flew up to investigate. The boy was crying, and Karen had snapped to attention and flew in to attack the adult while informing the police. I didn't realise I programmed her that way, but I guess I did after the whole spider-bite.”

FRIDAY was silent as she processed what Peter just told her. She was silent all the way to when Peter was about to leave the compound.

“Tony and Pepper should learn that they can’t just push their intern to the side.”

“I am not bitter about them pushing me to the side, what I’m bitter about is something else entirely.” Peter spoke, before leaving through the window. 

 

Peter was walking through the hallway, listening to Karen going on about something she saw uploaded on YouTube. He heard Shuri walking down the hallway and looked up to meet her gaze.

The princess looked at Karen and Peter had a feeling she was going to say something. Karen chirped and flicked her curl to curl it around his leg.

“You should kiss her.” Karen snickered, which caused Peter to narrow his eyes at her as she looked up at him innocently.

“Hello, Peter.” Shuri spoke, professionalism coating her voice.

It was odd considering Peter knew she was cheeky and snarky. Then again, he knew that about her via Spider-Man and not as Peter Parker. It wasn’t something he fully expected but then again, she tended to be rude. Even if he kind of deserved that attitude. 

“Hello, princess.” He greeted, bowing his head in respect towards her – not because he wanted to.

Shuri tilted her head and eyed Karen carefully. “Your robot. It’s…impressive for something so primitive.”

“Considering he even designed not only this robot but four others along with an AI, all with only technology from old computers and stuff that would be thrown out, you can’t say it’s primitive.” Karen snapped, body tensing.

Shuri paused. “When did you create her? And the robots, if what you claim is true.”

Peter shifted. “Two years ago. I’ve altered her and her robot forms here and there, but I make do with what I have.” Peter explained. “Why would I not say the truth?” 

Shuri suddenly stopped and looked at him. She turned her head away. “I could make a better one.”

“Have you made an AI yet?” Karen snapped. “Let alone an AI made from technology of the first mass produced cell phones and computers in our country?”

The snap made Shuri reel back and Peter quickly began to apologise. “I’m sorry, Karen doesn’t normally act like this. She at least tries to be respectful. I don’t know why she is so bitter towards you.”

Karen hissed. “You know why I’m so bitter about her, boss.”

The princess frowned. “Why don’t you alter the code?”

“I’ve tried.” Peter grumbled. “Karen refuses to, it helps her learn…She won’t turn against me, that’s against her code.”

Shuri didn’t seem to believe him but she walked off with a mutter of, “primitive.”

Peter sighed. Yeah, Shuri didn’t like him and visibly disliked being surrounded by ‘primitive’ technology that Peter couldn’t help himself.

“Ya know… We do very well in my opinion for not having access to the best material on Earth.” Peter spoke, hearing Shuri stop in her tracks. “I mean, we have managed thus far, why would we need Vibranium? It seems like it’s pointless, it’ll eventually run out.” Peter shrugged, sensing Shuri’s displeasure. “I mean, you can call a jet, why are you even here if you really don’t want to be here.”

He looked back with a raised eyebrow. “Or are you only here to rub in everyone’s face that you can do all this with a material only you have access to and then making fun of us for getting by with what we have? If that is the case, that’s not very nice. I wonder what your brother and mother would think of you, exploiting your privilege to make fun of those who just haven’t had the same kind of life you have?”

Karen seemed surprised by Peter’s words. “Boss!” She remained silent otherwise, trying to comprehend what he was saying.

Shuri hissed. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Maybe not.” Peter shrugged. “But I know when someone is rubbing their privilege in someone else’s face. I see it around school enough to be able to identify it. If everyone had Vibranium like you, you wouldn’t call our technology primitive. So, what we still have phones, the tech we have doesn’t allow us to mass produce anything else.”

Shuri opened her mouth to argue as Peter’s words had hit a spot. She huffed and glared at him before storming off down the hall. Karen mewed quietly. “You hit a nerve, boss.”

Peter continued down the hall. “I know, Karen. But, Shuri was acting all high and mighty and sniffing at our work. A princess shouldn’t be able to get away with making fun of others. It makes people less likely to trust them, God knows that people don’t fully trust and like T’Challa.”

Karen walked alongside Peter and eyed him carefully. She couldn’t argue with him anyway.

 

T’Challa stood in the shadows as he watched the two teens interact. He had been angered by Peter’s attitude, but his words struck a nerve. It was true, people didn’t fully like those from Wakanda, deeming them rude and seemed to think they were making fun of them for their lack of technological advancements.

The king had no idea what to do. He hadn’t even noticed Shuri’s attitude, because she always acted like that. However, seeing her interact with Peter and hearing his words, T’Challa realised that while Shuri believed her words were alright they weren’t.

He wanted to keep an eye on Peter but decided it was pointless with his AI constantly with him. Was there something Peter knew and didn’t want to talk about and mention? It seemed like he was hiding something, whether it was small or big didn’t seem to matter.

T’Challa began to walk after his younger sister and found her staring out the window.

“*Sister…*” T’Challa began but Shuri cut him off. 

“*I don’t want to talk about it*.” Shuri’s voice was more snappish than it has been recently directed towards him. “*He doesn’t know what he’s saying*.”

T’Challa hummed. “*I wish that was the case. We both know there is truth to his words*.”

Shuri blinked and sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

T’Challa paused and looked back to notice Karen watching them before disappearing around the corner.

Yes, there was something about Peter that made T’Challa wonder about what he was hiding again. He blinked and was about to follow Karen when he figured he shouldn’t. Obviously, the AI was keeping tabs on everyone, testing them.

T’Challa suddenly realised what was going on.

Karen was deeming how honest and truthful everyone was being. If they weren’t, Karen could record everything and use it against them. She could most likely translate what they were saying and deem it appropriate to drag them down.

While FRIDAY had strict coding, Karen’s was more lenient or at least she was more human than FRIDAY.

T’Challa wasn’t sure how much on Karen’s good side he was. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to know.

 

Tony sighed as he ran a hand down his face. “Peter…”

“I’m not sorry.” Peter muttered, refusing to look at Tony in the eyes.

Karen glanced between the two males, tail twitching before she padded off. Tony didn’t know where she was going but guessed she wanted them to talk alone. He knew FRIDAY would alert her if anything bad happened.

“Peter, what has gotten into you?” Tony’s voice was soft, concern and confusion laced his tone. “You aren’t normally like this.”

Peter shifted, and Tony could tell he would try to brush it off. It reminded him of himself in that manner, and Tony didn’t know how to feel about that fact.

“I…I don’t…I can’t tell you.” Peter whispered, he sounded so defeated that Tony felt his heart break.

Tony stepped forward, knowing full well that this conversation was taking a turn from the normal professional talks they usually had. For some reason, it didn’t bother Tony as much as it should. “Pete, I’m not going to push you or anything. But, you should know that Pepper and I are always hear to talk to you.”

“No, you’re not!” Peter snapped, reeling back and moving away from Tony.

The billionaire refused to acknowledge the tightening of his chest. “Peter?”

“You two are ignoring me for Harley, every time. I’m meant to be your main intern, and it shouldn’t bother me, but it does!” Peter shook his head.

Tony sighed. “We haven’t been the best mentors and bosses, have we?”

Peter scowled at the ground. “Not at all.” He snapped his head up, his eyes wide in fear and worry that he crossed a line.

However, Tony could only laugh. He knew it had been a while since he last had a proper conversation with Peter because he had honestly forgotten about Peter’s snark. “Well, we’ll just have to change that, don’t we?” A hand was placed on Peter’s shoulder. “Look, I don’t do feelings…But I swear, I’ll listen if you want to tell me about anything that’s happening to you. Alright?”

The teenager nodded slowly. His gaze flickered around the room they were in. “I’ll apologise to the princess tomorrow before I leave.”

“Good.” Tony nodded. “FRIDAY will inform me if you don’t.”

Peter tugged at his shirt sleeves and looked very guilty. “You don’t need to listen to my complaints about nonsense stuff.”

Tony shook his head. “Maybe it will help me understand you and Harley’s little rivalry that is going on.”

“It’s just about school, and friends. That sort of thing.” Peter stepped back with a shake of his head. “Don’t worry about it.”

Tony wanted to say that he always worried, but Peter was already out of the room. Tony sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. Something about Peter made Tony’s stomach clench, especially when Peter refused to tell him about what was going on.

For the first time Tony wondered if it was because he was a father even though he doesn’t know where Zayden is. He couldn’t have been dead; he and Pepper were told that parents always know when their child is in danger or is killed.

The tinkerer sighed. Before he would think about having a drink, but he couldn’t. He had not touched any alcohol to ‘help’ him deal with emotions or thoughts since he started dating Pepper.


	11. Chapter 8

Peter slipped out of his room when he heard chatting about Rhodes down the hall. He looked at Tony and T’Challa who were discussing about what is going to happen with Rhodey.

“We can heal him at Wakanda.” T’Challa said, his voice was calm and level.

Peter frowned, and his eyes flicked towards Iron Man without hesitation.

Tony sighed. “I know you can, and I want you to help him. But it should be his choice. If he says no, then sending him to you to heal is inconsiderate towards his feelings. Despite everything I want, he must make the choice himself.”

“He is your best friend.” T’Challa pointed out.

“He must be okay with it.” Tony argued, and T’Challa sighed.

“I understand.” The king spoke with a solemn head hang.

Peter wondered if T’Challa really did but he only heard sincerity from him. So, he did, to a degree.

The teenager re-entered his room and studied the hoverboard prototype that seemed to be taunting him. Karen was out around the city and wouldn’t return until Peter got home that night.

Peter sat on the floor in front of the door, head resting on the metal behind him. His eyes slipped shut.

He could still see Rhodey falling to the ground and hear the faint beating of his heart.

 

Peter adjusted his bag and he knocked on the door to the room he could tell Shuri was in. While he might have a crush on her, he had to be the bigger person and apologise for what he said yesterday. He’d then go and ask Tony about how Rhodey was once he’d done this.

The door opened to reveal Shuri, she raised an eyebrow. “Peter, I’m surprised you came by today.”

“I couldn’t go home without apologising.” Peter admitted, ducking his head in shame. “I stepped out of line. Even though I have had a bad few days I shouldn’t have targeted you.”

Shuri folded her arms and leaned against the door. “You are right you shouldn’t have targeted me, and I accept your apology.” She was silent before speaking again. “I want to say you don’t have a right with saying what you said, but you brought up a good point.”

Peter blinked in surprise. “Um…Repeat that please, Princess?”

The princess shifted slightly. “I forget where I am, and I never realised how rude and insensitive my words are because I very rarely left Wakanda. Also, whenever I did meet anyone they also treated me as someone who they couldn’t talk to.”

“And I didn’t?” Peter asked even though he knew that was true.

“You treated me like a normal person.” Shuri corrected. “I guess, I don’t know how to talk with people who aren’t Wakandans.”

Peter smiled and held his hand out. “So, can we agree to put this behind us?”

Shuri stared at Peter’s hand before taking and shaking it. “Fine, deal.”

 

Peter stretched as he stopped outside the office. 

Karen curled around Peter’s feet. “Go in and talk to them.”

Peter opened the door and Tony and Pepper turned to face him. “Good morning, Peter. How are you?”

“I’m good, Ms Potts.” Peter spoke, fiddling with his bag strap.

“Peter please, it’s Pepper and Tony. I think you are far beyond calling us by our last names.” Pepper chuckled.

“It’s professional.” Peter argued, but the words fell flat even to him.

Tony snorted. “Kid, have you met me? I don’t reek professionalism.”

Peter blinked, and he couldn’t help himself. “Oh, I was wondering what that smell was. You didn’t have the nice odour of professionalism to counteract the stench of whatever the other smell is.”

Tony stiffened but Pepper could only laugh. Tony wailed. “Why do I always forget your sass?”

“Because you can’t comprehend other people can have sass that aren’t you?” Peter asked sweetly.

Tony huffed, and Pepper giggled into her hand.

Tony shook his head. “Alright, kiddo. What brings you here this fine morning?”

Peter licked his lips. “I wanted to ask how Mr Rhodes is going. I saw the fall on TV and was worried about him.”

Peter prayed that they brought his lie, well he had seen it again on TV. It didn’t make the pit in his stomach feel any better though. In fact, it made it worse. Karen and FRIDAY had banned Peter from viewing anything from that night, and while Peter could still get it he didn’t because it was torture for himself.

There was a stretch of silence, and Peter whispered. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No, no. You are the first person to ask.” Tony shook his head. “He’s stable, paralysed though. He is awake and doesn’t know if he wants to go to Wakanda to heal. He said he wouldn’t mind retiring, and the paralysis would give him a reason to do so.”

Pepper placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “I wasn’t aware that you knew Rhodey.”

Peter stiffened and blushed slightly. “Um…Well, we had run into each other when there was a bit of a hostage situation in Queens a few months ago. I was caught up in the mess with my best friend, Ned. Rhodes was there getting everything under control, and we met him.”

Tony grumbled, with his arms folded. “He forgot to mention that to me. I should talk to him about meeting my favourite intern and not mentioning that incident to me.”

“It wasn’t his fault!” Peter argued. “He had no idea I am your intern.” He refused to mention that his heart had leaped when Tony called him his favourite intern.

“Not the point.” Tony said.

Pepper blinked in worry. “A hostage situation? Where was that?”

“A shopping mall.” Peter said. “Sometime in February.”

Pepper stepped forward and looked at him. “Did anything happen to you?”

Peter shook his head.

The woman sighed. “You know, I had a feeling someone I knew was in that hostage lockdown.”

Tony pursued his lips. “Will you tell us about that day, Peter?”

Peter stiffened and backed out of the room. “Well, uh would you look at the time? I should be going down stairs.” The adults raised their eyebrows, and Peter shifted. “I mean, if I get nightmares about it or anything I’ll tell you, but I haven’t.”

Of course, Peter was not going to be telling them that he had been through worse and that the hostage lockdown as tame in comparison to everything else. If they freaked out like this about him a hostage, they didn’t need to know everything else.

Karen had also informed him that they did in fact freak out about watching Spiderman go in the burning building. So yeah, Peter was not going to be telling them he was Spiderman anytime soon. Hopefully never but he knew it will come out sooner or later.

 

Ned collapsed on Peter’s bed. “Man, I’ve missed you.”

Peter rolled his eyes and opened his window to let Karen in. If he didn’t he’d never hear the end of it and get called Ice Block again. He still didn’t know why she chose that name for him, and he was afraid to hear her reasoning.

“It’s only been a week.” Peter said, sitting beside his best friend who was waving his phone around. “What is it that you want to tell me that couldn’t be said over the phone or over text?”

Ned grinned brightly. “Well, Flash got karma handed to him today.”

Peter gaped. “What? How? Why?”

“All will be told, Padawan.” Ned teased, and Peter scowled.

“You are so lucky you are my best friend.”

“Am I the lucky one for having Spider-Man as my best friend, or are you for having me the one person who is willing to cover your ass?” Ned asked.

Peter looked out the window to stare at the buildings opposite them. “Me, let’s be real here.”

“So, I’m not lucky?” Ned asked with a mock gasp. “Not everyone can say they are best friends with a super hero.”

Peter laughed. “Fair enough, but what about what happened to Flash?”

“Well, it was MJ.” Ned started, and Peter snorted.

“When is it not? She can bring virtually anyone down.” Peter snickered and then shivered. “I think she may know I’m Spider-Man. She doesn’t believe us.”

“Cause we are terrible liars.” Ned reasoned, he shook his head. “Anyway, not my point. So, Flash was trying to show up to the newbies who are being tested for if they are able to join the Decathlon team, right?”

“Nothing unusual there. What’s the point?” Peter raised an eyebrow.

“Well,” Ned stressed the word. “MJ asked Flash a particularly hard question, the same question only you got right when you answered it while Flash wasn’t paying attention in the last meeting. Long story short, he absolutely humiliated himself in front of the younger students.”

Peter frowned. “And? That can’t be the entire story.”

Ned nodded. “The icing on the cake was that they were asking where you were. Mate, I think a few of them have a crush on you.”

Peter pulled a face and looked away with red cheeks. “Shut up, Ned.”

“I’m serious. Even MJ mentioned it to me as we were finishing packing up everything. They were bright students though, so you have to be at the next practise. They are also sitting in and answering questions where they can.” Ned said, leaning towards Peter before noticing something he should’ve seen earlier.

“Wait! Is that a hoverboard?” Ned screeched, leaping off the bed and almost throwing Peter off himself if Peter hadn’t been able to stick himself to the covers in time to save himself from being flung face first towards his floor.

“Yeah, it is. It is a prototype, but I have to complete the design before I next go to Stark Industries.” Peter responded. “The actual hoverboard is made from Chitauri tech and works. It doesn’t have a lot of Chitauri tech, but enough.”

Ned stroked the board. “This one doesn’t have any Chitauri tech?” At Peter’s head shake Ned gushed. “This would be so epic when it works.” He looked around, “where is the actual hoverboard?”

Peter slipped off his desk and shut his blinds before reaching under his bed to retrieve a hoverboard that had green glowing lines. “This is what you were looking for.”

Peter could see Ned’s eyes widen and light up with excitement at what this could possibly mean. “I will not be using it, Ned.” When Ned opened his mouth, Peter interjected. “Neither will you. It’s a prototype. I will test it, because I’m more resilient than you. No offence.”

“None taken. This is one of the best days of my life!” Ned squealed.

Peter could only smile, it made him forget about Rhodes for the time being. It didn’t take him long to realise that was Ned’s plan the entire time. Help him get his mind off what happened at the airport. Along with the whole, ya know, jet bridge being dropped on top of Peter by Captain America.

 

May had returned home to hear Star Wars on the TV and just raised an eyebrow at the two boys. She already guessed Ned would be sleeping over, so she made some pasta that she knew Ned enjoyed. She had to cook two different recipes for it as Peter couldn’t eat garlic anymore. Her nephew had wailed about not being able to have garlic bread and had complained about it to Ned and May whenever he could.

His spider genetics had really screwed with him, and May had taken everything in stride to help Peter out to the best of her abilities. The only thing she struggled with was how much food Peter ate, they didn’t receive enough money to properly feed Peter for one meal. While Ned’s parents assisted when they could, they knew May and Peter hated relying on others.

Peter made due with what he did eat, and informed May that Ned always had a couple of extra snacks in his bag for Peter when those days that he didn’t eat breakfast came around. They were quite common, but Peter had gotten better – Karen was also a godsend when it came to that.

Karen liked to talk with May, giving her rather cute and endearing nicknames. Of course, they weren’t always thought of as sweet and endearing, but May learnt that is Karen gives you a nickname of any sort then she likes you. A nickname that wasn’t a status or position anyway.

“I am worried about Shadow.” Karen said as May got ready for bed while Peter and Ned cleaned the dishes. “You saw what happened with James.”

Shadow was Karen’s go to nickname for Peter as Spider-Man appeared at night and was as elusive as a shadow. Her other main nicknames for him included Zoroark and Zay.

“I did.” May nodded and looked at Karen who sounded very concerned and conflicted. “Don’t worry, Karen. I can take care of Peter to the best of my abilities.”

Karen sighed. “I understand, Spirit.” May was called spirit because of how spirited she was in general. May had loved the nickname so much that Karen ended up just mostly sticking to it, even if she teasingly called her foxy and Liepard.

The nicknames were Pokémon or anime based, okay? She had called Ned Sasuke, just to drive him crazy as he didn’t even like Naruto. Karen thought is was hilarious, and Ned got used to it so she didn’t bother changing it.


	12. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Ned meet new faces (BTW Ragnarok has happened at the same time as Civil War - I forgot about the timeline when I wrote this chapter, just don't worry too much about it).

Peter had gone back to May’s house and then went to Ned’s for a night a few days later. May was working late so Ned’ parents offered Peter to stay the night like normal. 

“So, wait let me get this straight.” Ned spoke as they continued their mission in Stars Wars Battlefront. “You talked rudely to the princess of Wakanda?”

Peter hummed in confirmation as Karen stretched lazily in his lap.

Ned stared at his best friend with wide eyes. “And you didn’t get yourself killed?”

“I think I signed my death wish.” Peter spoke with a shrug. “Though, let’s be honest. She’ll need to get in line behind everyone else who wants me dead.”

“They want Spider-Man dead.” Ned argued then paused. “Well, you are Spider-Man but still.”

Peter chuckled. Karen purred in amusement as she watched the two boys mess around with video games.

 

Peter and Ned didn’t know what happened, but Flash and Harley got into a huge argument. Soon Harley was hanging out with the pair of them. Eventually Harley confessed that he didn’t want Tony and Pepper to adopt him or name him heir to Stark Industries.

Even though they knew the second Flash spotted them hanging out after school, he’ll drag Harley away with a promise and a guilt trip.

Guilt tripping was Flash’s most effective manner.

Peter wasn’t sure how to feel, they still didn’t know his heritage after all. Ned knew but he knew better than just saying it. Ned might’ve been impulsive and silly, but he wasn’t stupid. Ned had found a few years after Peter had, and even as kids they knew how much of a secret it is.

Harley chatted with Peter but didn’t know how to feel about Karen. Peter and Ned couldn’t blame him. Very few people knew how to feel about Karen. She was snarky and persistent, also had a fondness of gaining blackmail on everyone she meets.

Peter did not know how to feel about that, but he let it go for the most part. She’s gets rid of the blackmail if Peter asked her to, however Peter rarely knew which information could be considered blackmail. 

Harley hummed as they left the decathlon meeting. “So, does Michelle always hammer down on everyone?”

Peter nodded. “Yeah, MJ is ruthless like that.”

Ned chuckled. “She gets nicer when you prove you can hold your own, that’s the reason she doesn’t hammer down on Peter as much.”

“You know what we should do?” Harley jumped, grinning widely at the other two. “For finals we should get Tony to come along, with Pepper!”

“You can convince them?” Ned asked in awe.

Harley looked embarrassed. “No…I’m going home for a week, they know but… Peter,” his attention was turned towards Peter, “you can ask, can’t you?”

Peter gulped. “I can ask, but I doubt they’d say yes. They have more important things to do than watch a decathlon competition.”

“We can ask the royal family to come along, they’ll be in the US at that time anyway.” Harley continued.

Ned gave a look to Peter who pursed his lips. “I don’t think they’d want to come.”

“Why?” Harley asked, looking perplexed.

“I know they don’t like me.” Peter explained.

Harley huffed. “They like me, so they may say yes.”

Ned bit his lip and Peter rolled his eyes. “Then why don’t you ask them?”

Flash crept up behind them, but Peter had heard and felt his approach. “You heard Harley, he won’t be here.”

Ned butted in at that. “Not a phone call or anything? Plus, the tower is really close isn’t it?”

Harley frowned. “Don’t you want to tag along?”

“Homework.” Peter said before Ned could say yes and the two of them were dragged along by Harley. Peter knew full well that an Avenger or two may be in the tower and might be made aware of Harley’s presence, Ned would gush and freak out if he met any of them. Despite you know, some of them going into hiding and all that.

Flash jumped at the opportunity to go to the tower. “I could join you.”

Harley paused and pressed back, closer to Ned and Peter which only sparked their curiosity as to what had happened between the two of them. Ned and Peter shared a look.

“Come on, man. Or is Penis and Loser better company than me?” Flash asked, smirking when Peter bristled in irritation.

Harley seemed to contemplate everything before shrugging. “Why not. Come on then.”

At Flash’s smug look, Ned and Karen nudged at Peter to stop him from lunging at him.

Ned whispered quietly, wanting to distract Peter. “My mum mentioned there is this museum thing that has all these really cool objects. I think it was called a sanctum or something similar.”

“The New York Sanctum?” Karen asked, tilting her head as the three of them walked down the street. “I’ve heard of it. Why?”

“It’s open to the public for the day. I want to check it out.” Ned explained as he began to go off on a tangent about possible objects that the sanctum may have and whether the objects were the real ones.

Peter could only smile. Ned always knew how to distract Peter from reality and make him remember that he was meant to have fun as a teenager.

 

The New York Sanctum was larger than Peter expected. While no-one else seemed to be aware of it, Peter could feel the magic radiating from it and recognised it from Wanda and the Masters of Mystic Arts. He briefly wondered who was the one in charge of this sanctum.

Everything was magic, that much he could tell, and it clouded his senses to the point where it was almost painful. It confused him; there was something, or someone, in the building that had magic that was much stronger than what he was used to. Peter gazed around the lobby and let Ned drag him around and point out all the objects.

“Look at this sceptre!” Ned exclaimed pointing towards an object that made Peter tense from the sheer power emitting from it.

The circle ended sceptre looked harmless enough, but the sun looking object underneath the main point seemed to shine and the points looked sharper than they probably were.

Karen sounded disinterested. “It looks like it’s sucking out all the light in the room.”

Peter opened his mouth before yelping when a voice sounded right behind him. “That’s because it is.”

Ned, Peter and Karen whipped around to look at three adult males who were dressed in various states. The tallest male was dressed in a casual hoodie and jeans, another was dressed in a black suit with slicked back hair, the shortest was dressed in what looked like a robe with various belts around his waist, a cloak on his back and a necklace with the pendant looking like an eye.

In fact, the eye seemed to have a green tint to it, and a power that was like the mind stone with Vision made Peter realise just what it was.

A container for an Infinity Stone.

Ned gaped. “Wait? Are you serious?” The perplexed expression mirrored just how Peter felt in that moment.

Peter quipped in with words he couldn’t really prevent. “That pendant, eye-thing, that holds an Infinity Stone doesn’t it?”

The adults paused and glanced at each other.

The shortest male frowned and approached Peter, looking menacing. “What do you know about the Infinity Stones?”

“That they are powerful stones…” Peter murmured, keeping his voice down.

“How did you even feel…” The man started but soon was cut in.

“Relax, Strange.” The tallest, buff looking male, said. “This is Peter Parker.” A raised eyebrow and his bright blue eyes sparkled. “An innocent and simple Midgardian.”

The suit male rolled his eyes. “He is the vigilante known as Spider-Man.” When Peter and Ned were about to argue, he continued. “Heimdall informed us about you, boy.”

Peter shifted. “Does that mean…?”

A grin. “I am Thor, this is my brother Loki, and Doctor Stephen Strange. The master of this sanctum.”

Ned gaped. “The god of thunder and the god of mischief. Woah.”

Loki looked uneasy. “Um…”

Karen growled. “What else do you know about my boss?”

Thor blinked. “Well, we aren’t idiots. We know who you are, Zayden Stark.”


	13. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Act 1 is done (this is also the shortest chapter for a while)

Peter froze and looked around the Sanctum. “What…What are you talking about?”

Loki let out a groan and turned to Thor. “Brother, why do you have to be straight forward? Now you’ve scared the poor child.”

Stephen rolled his eyes and stepped towards the teenagers. “Don’t mind them, your secret is safe with us.”

Karen hissed, climbing up Peter’s body to perch on his shoulder. “Let’s just leave, I don’t trust them. Can I attack them?”

Thor, Loki and Stephen could only stare at the AI in mild shock and amusement.

Thor let out a hum. “The last time I met a robot with an attitude it tried to destroy the world.”

“Good for you.” Karen snarked, eyes narrowing.

Ned pushed Peter behind him slightly. “How do you know Peter and his secrets?”

“Did the name Heimdall ring no bell?” Loki asked, looking bored and as if he wanted to be as far away from here in possible.

At Peter and Ned’s confusion the god of mischief groaned. “He is an Asgardian that can see everything within the Nine Realms, and ten trillion souls. He oversaw you from your birth, and informed Thor and I of your existence along with everything that we’ve missed.”

Ned and Peter shared a look as Karen spoke up with uncertainty. “So? Should we be worried?”

“Souls?” Peter asked, focusing on one important factor that was said that would’ve been overlooked. “Does he have the soul stone?”

Thor paused and tilted his head. “Maybe, I’ve never considered it myself, Son of Parker.”

Stephen nodded and lead Ned and Peter around. “I can offer you a suggestion, or some help.”

“How?” Ned asked, obviously not trusting the three even though Peter could tell they weren’t dangerous. “No offence but what can you offer?”

Stephen blinked. “How about magic lessons?”

“You mean unexplained science?” Peter shot back, and instantly shut his mouth once again.

He really needed to watch his mouth and his sass. It would get him into a lot of trouble one day.

“No, it’s magic.” Stephen insisted.

Thor spoke softly. “For Asgardians, and a lot of civilians in the Nine Realms, magic is science that hasn’t be explained. Parker is correct in that statement.”

Stephen looked satisfied with that response. “Who is your favourite scientist, boys?”

“Doctor Banner! His work is legendary!” Ned said, sounding very excited and that was when Peter felt the aura of radiation.

Peter shot a silent question towards the adults who led them into a back room where Doctor Bruce Banner was sat at a table with a female and male warrior, along with a creature made of rocks.

Peter couldn’t help himself. “Should I keep paper away from you, sir?”

The rock creature seemed impressed and laughed. “No need, I think I’d break it even though it beats me.” He held out his hand. “I’m Korg, I’m a Kronan.”

Peter and Ned stared at Bruce. “You, you are Doctor Banner! We thought you vanished off the face of the Earth!” Ned exclaimed.

A strange scent rolled off Bruce, a scent that was engrained into the female warrior, Korg, Thor and Loki. “That is because he wasn’t on Earth, Ned.”

Everyone snapped their heads towards the spider-human.

Bruce squeaked. “What? What are you talking about?”

“Your scent. It is similar to Korg, Thor, Loki and…” he trailed off as he absently waved his hand towards the woman. “I figured it was the only logical explanation.”

“You are right…Peter Parker, and your friend, Ned Leeds?” Bruce looked over at the male warrior who nodded, his gold eyes seemed to read everything Peter was going to do and what he had done. That must be Heimdall, the all seer that Thor and Loki were talking about. It made sense. “I wasn’t on Earth, I don’t know how I got off Earth, but it happened.”

“The Avengers will be so happy to see you, when did you get here?” Ned asked, and Peter placed a hand on his best friend’s shoulder to try and calm him down.

“Yesterday.” Loki stated. “Strange opened the sanctum for you, Parker, but would allow your friend to tag along.”

“So why open it to everyone?” Ned looked confused, Peter was also confused as to what was going on. “If you were only after us, that is.”

Stephen flicked his hands and soon magic surrounded them. “Because I know what I’m doing. No-one will know that those weapons are magical, who would be any the wiser?”

“Someone who has interacted with magic before?” Peter questioned, not really believing Stephen knew what he was doing. However, he didn’t want to be turned into a sheep, so he kept his thoughts to himself.

Wait, would Stephen even be able to turn him into a sheep? Regardless, it wasn’t something he wanted to test. He liked being a human, thank you very much. Well, technically half-human half-spider, but you know. He has the appearance of a human.

The male warrior smiled and spoke. “I believe you have already figured out that I am Heimdall.” Peter and Ned nodded.

Ned looked uneasy. “I think your gold eyes give you away.”

The female sniffed. “I’m hoping you two are better company than these losers.”

“She reminds me of MJ.” Ned hissed to Peter who studied the warrior and proceeded to nod.

“Yeah, I see it.” Peter agreed.

“I’m Valkyrie, well that’s the name I go by.” Valkyrie introduced herself, leaning back with a bottle of beer in hand.

“We shouldn’t introduce them.” Ned murmured. “I fear my life in front of both separately, I worry about what would happen if they met. I would lose my life, for sure!”

Peter rolled his eyes because he could feel a rough aura from Valkyrie, but it hid a softer side. That aura that spoke protection that was long lost and hidden over by a rough exterior. He wondered what had occurred to make Valkyrie like that, maybe he’ll ask on a later date.

Bruce stared at Karen who shifted and stared right back at him.

Karen snapped. “What are you looking at Brucel Sprout?”

Bruce blinked. “A robot AI?” He stood up and approached Peter. “Did you make her?”

“Peter made me and my robot forms.” Karen puffed out her chest, obviously basking in Bruce’s attention. She smirked at Peter. “See, someone appreciates me.”

“I never said I didn’t.” Peter argued, and Ned laughed.

“Whatever you say, arachnid.” Karen cackled. She turned back to Thor and Bruce. “Anthony would love to see you two again. However, I assume you are aware of what happened with the Avengers?”

Thor and Bruce nodded and looked solemn. Loki rolled his eyes. “Something bigger is coming, and everything that occurs before he comes are small and easy, easily forgotten.”

“Him?” Ned asked.

Peter felt a rush of cold ice run down his spine, filling his muscles and coating his bones. Something was moving in the magic of the sanctum. Another being of power, but whatever Loki was talking about – this being was working with him.

Loki nodded. “The biggest threat to the entire universe.”

Someone was approaching a sceptre. A hand reached out to grab it. His hand glinted, appearing black but Peter knew that wasn’t the colour of his skin.

“Someone who can spread fear into everyone who he meets.” Loki’s eyes were hard.

Peter froze when the figure snatched the sceptre but the magic wavered and steadied. A fake sceptre was in it’s place. The figure looked up at him, his face a distorted image but blood red.

There was mistaking him, Peter had heard too much about him to be able to say it wasn’t him. The one behind the deaths of his parents, the one who wanted him dead. The figure escaped without anyone else raising eyebrows.

“His name is Thanos.”


	14. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of Act 2 - be warned there is plenty of fluff before the horror show that is Act 3

Peter yelped as he ducked as a dagger went soaring over his head.

“Loki! I told you to stop throwing your weapons around.” Stephen’s yell echoed through the sanctum sounding as though it was coming from everywhere at once.

Peter grumbled, eyes narrowing at Loki who didn’t look too guilty about what had happened. “I was testing his reflexes. If you are going to learn magic you need to be able to trust yourself.”

“I never would’ve pegged you as the philosophical type.” The teen spoke, body slightly shaking as the adrenaline slowly faded from his body.

“Apparently, nothing I do you expect.” Loki said with a raised eyebrow. He looked like the perfect picture of grace and sophistication.

That is saying something as Peter knows Tony and Pepper, even T’Challa. However, the god has several centuries on the three of them, and therefore that whole business is something Loki has had a while to practise and perfect.

“Aside from the whole throwing daggers at people’s heads.” Peter shrugged and smirked at Loki who narrowed his eyes in a stern expression.

Stephen walked down the steps and nodded to Peter. “Okay, how about we start your first lesson?”

“Isn’t that why I’m here in the first place?” Peter asked, walking towards Stephen and Loki huffed, not liking to be so vigilantly ignored by anyone really.

Loki looked bored and his tone was monotone. “Sadly, neither of us are good with healing magic. That would be rather useful for Peter.”

Stephen shook his head. “I doubt it, with the right magic then no healing magic is required.”

Peter glanced between the two sorcerers and shrugged. “Well, whatever you think I should learn first.”

“Well you should learn how to create a portal, how to summon magic to your fingers.” Stephen said, but Loki broke in.

“I know you did it that way, but Peter does not need to know how to do that. Not yet, at least.” Loki argued. “Basics. You always start with the basics.”

Stephen raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you teach him then, Loki. If you are so set on it.”

Loki pursed his lips before beckoning peter to follow him as they entered a side room, used mainly for magic training.

“Strange has the right idea, but he’ll go about it the wrong way. You don’t have the same personality as him, so you don’t need to be taught a lesson.” Loki stopped and turned to face Peter. “Take that as a compliment.”

“I was going to.” Peter responded cheekily.

An eyebrow rose in response before a low chuckle escaped Loki’s throat.

“Sass, I like you more and more every day.” The god of mischief’s eyes crackled with magic, but Peter wasn’t worried about him being hurt.

 

Karen perched on one of Tony’s desks. She was reading over all the blue prints for the prototypes. She noticed something.

“Where is Harley’s?” She asked, raising her head.

Tony paused before humming. “Fixing it. Remember, Karen. It’s a gun, if it is going to be a gravity gun it needs to not be able to be made into an actual weapon. Unless you have the blue prints.”

“So, like forcefields?” Karen asked, trotting towards Iron Man. “How would that even work?”

“Well, it needs to be monitored, and I am overseeing all the projects. I even have to talk to Peter about a few alterations with his hoverboards and Monika’s anti-rape wristbands that deliver an electric shock to the rapist.” Tony said, looking at her. “I could never make you or your robot forms go on the market.”

Karen frowned, sitting down and looking at the Accords that were sprawled in front of Tony. “You didn’t seem too impressed with me.”

“You know Ultron? He was like you, but when he came into contact with the mind stone he went rogue. I am worried that the same thing would happen to you. It would be on me.” Tony whispered, rubbing his hands over his face.

The AI looked at her paws. “I never…I never considered that.”

Tony looked rather amused. “For such a sentient and emotional AI, you still have a lot to learn.”

“I understand teenagers better than adults.” Karen replied, sounding disappointed in herself. “I didn’t want to hope or assume something; Peter and I have been let down several times.”

“You really love him, don’t you?” Tony asked.

Karen looked at the adult in disbelief. “He’s my boss. He may drive me crazy but of course I love him. Who doesn’t?”

Tony smiled softly. “That’s true.”

Karen blinked in shock. “What? You don’t really sound like it to Peter.”

“He’s an intern, it’s strictly a professional relationship.” Tony looked at Karen with sad eyes. “Is it bad that he reminds me of what I want my son to be like, except I feel like Harley is what actually would’ve happened. They are so different.”

The robot cat nodded. “You don’t know him that well. Anyway, Peter is taking outside of school classes.”

Tony looked surprised. “For what?”

“Classified.” Karen answered. “You’ll have to ask Peter for details, but don’t expect my boss to tell you.”

“Fair point.” Tony sighed and blinked, looking his age with weary eyes and a tired expression.

Karen purred, and nudged his hand. “Why don’t you go and get some sleep. I’ll make sure no-one can find any of this work.”

Tony hummed sleepily. “You are probably my favourite AI, Karen.”

“I can’t say the same for you, Anthony. Mainly because I’m pretty sure AIs have more emotion than you.” Karen snickered as Tony lightly glared at her but trudged out of the lab to get some much-needed sleep.

The AI glared at the Accords.

“All Element wants to do is help and make sure that people aren’t scared. His team ended up not realising what they are doing wrong, and now it’s split in half. Not when something larger is coming. Zemo was smart to do what he did, same with Ross.”

 

Shuri grumbled as she leaned on her desk and studied the blue prints that were shared with her from Tony. She noticed that Peter’s wasn’t among them because of him not wanting any assistance from Vibranium. It would be very helpful, and obviously Peter didn’t want her end. It’s not that he didn’t need it, he was doing it to make a point.

Sighing, the princess groaned and stretched, her back popping.

She tried to act as though Peter’s words didn’t bother her.

Why did she always like going to America?

It had nothing to do with her privilege. It had almost everything to do with Peter. She groaned loudly. Why were crushes so hard, especially on someone who clearly didn’t feel the same.

“Shuri, what is it?” Ramonda asked, walking in on her daughter trying to do work. “I could hear your groan from the end of the hallway.”

“Peter hates me.” Shuri muttered, turning away from her desk to walk towards her mother. “Mother, what do I do?”

Ramonda raised an eyebrow. “This reminds me of Nakia and T’Challa. Nakia didn’t like T’Challa that much because he was a prince and didn’t ask questions as to why Wakanda kept to itself. Nakia disagreed with his words. While T’Challa always had feeling for her, Nakia did not return the feelings until much, much later.”

Shuri grumbled. “I work better with robots and machines. Human emotions are too difficult to process. That is probably the reason why I haven’t made my own AI.” She sighed, her shoulders slumping. “Am I really that rude?”

“It may be that way to a stranger. We know you mean nothing of it.” Ramonda said as she stopped her daughter in front of her room. “Not everyone is the same and you have to cater for those differences in how you act and speak. You don’t have to change yourself, just watch or monitor what words you say.”

Shuri nodded. “Thank you, mother.”

Ramonda kissed Shuri’s forehead. “Even the smartest people still need to learn lessons. I love you, my dear.”

“I love you too.” Shuri kissed her mum on her cheek. “Goodnight, mother.”

 

Thor and Peter picked up a blunt sword each. The teenager, shifted, adjusting his stance on one side of the field. He mimicked Thor, both staring each other down.

Bruce furrowed his eyebrows in worry. “Please, Thor. Go easy on him.”

“He’s stronger than Captain. He can handle it.” Thor replied cheerily.

The scientist shook his head and opened his mouth, but his words fell silent when he saw Loki’s headshake. “Parker will need to learn.”

Valkyrie leaned against the wall. “Sure, one may raise eyebrows. However, his majesty is testing Peter’s instincts and reaction times.” Thor’s title was spoken in a teasing tone, that hinted towards indifference.

Valkyries were loyal to the royal family, like the Dora Milaje. Valkyrie liked to tease Thor and Loki but there was no denying that she was loyal to them.

Valkyrie rested a hand on her knee. “Go!”

Thor and Peter leaped at each other, the swords thudding against the other. Thor, however, showed his skill by being able to quickly pin Peter to the ground. Peter hissed as his vision blurred slightly from where his head slammed into the ground.

The teenager shook his head, trying to clear his eye sight only to see Thor staring down at him.

Peter curled his lips back to reveal his teeth that had grown and taken on a green tinge to them. The king simply raised an eyebrow.

“Well, well. I was wondering if you were actually a spider.” Loki said, nodding slowly. A grin began to creep onto his face.

Peter leaped up and lunged at Thor. Thor grinned. “Now we are talking, little spider!”

The swords clashed.

The sound resonated within Bruce’s head. He shifted and looked very worried and concerned. “I hope they don’t harm each other too much.”

“They’ll be fine.” Loki waved his hand.

Blood spluttered on the ground from a scratch that Thor inflicted on Peter.

Bruce paled, and Loki corrected his words. “Mostly.”

“Thor he’s still a child!” Bruce cried.

Thor and Peter ignored him. Loki chuckled at Bruce’s look of horror and worry.

 

Within the shared office of Tony and Pepper, Peter and Tony were seated in their chairs working on their own work. While Peter was doing his homework, Tony was drawing out blueprints.

Tony noticed the time was nearing eight pm, and he wondered if Peter would be okay in getting home safely.

Peter stretched as he tried not to yawn. Tony looked up.

“Pete? Are you alright, kid?” Tony asked, voice laced with concern.

Peter blinked back tiredness. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.” Tony stood up and walked over. “Come on, Pepper would have my head if I was making you work when you are tired.”

Tony tugged on Peter’s arm. “Would you aunt be upset if you stay the night?”

Peter rubbed his eyes. “I…I…No she wouldn’t.”

“Good, come on, Pete.” The adult pulled the teenager into a standing position. “Let’s get you into a room of your own.”

“Are you sure?” Peter asked, voice dropping in his tiredness.

Tony had to restrain himself from cooing over how adorable Peter looked.

“Of course.” Tony nodded. “FRIDAY, can you inform Mrs Parker that Peter is going to be staying the night?”

“Right away, boss.” FRIDAY spoke.

Peter tried not to lean on Tony, but the hero was not having any of it.

“Karen told me you are doing some outside of school work.” Tony said, wanting to have a conversation with Peter once more.

Tony may not like talking, but Peter often couldn’t keep quiet, so he decided that he could sacrifice his normality to better adapt to situations involving the teenager. Honestly, Karen telling him that he didn’t know him struck a nerve with him.

“Yeah, classes. You know Doctor Stephen Strange?” Peter questioned. “Well, I stumbled across him at his work.”

Tony stumbled. “I know him, sort of. He’s assisted the Avengers with some injuries before.” He raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to leave us?”

Peter giggled. “Nope. Why would I do that?”

“No idea, it would be a stupid idea.” Tony teased.

Peter scoffed. “It would probably be my smartest idea.”

The adult almost complained but they stopped in front of a bedroom for an intern. Tony placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder.

“Please, Peter. If those extra classes are making you unable to focus here, then you don’t need to come over on those same days.” Tony said, when Peter met his gaze.

The eyes that were staring at him made him worry. It felt as though Peter could read him extremely well.

His voice dropped. “Peter…Why…Why do I sometimes see wounds on your body?”

Peter tensed up, his voice also dropping to the point that Tony had to strain himself to hear him. “It’s…Queens isn’t the nicest place at night.”

Now Tony was glad he didn’t send Peter home. He didn’t want Peter to get caught up in any potential gang conflicts. While Tony had a feeling it wasn’t everything, it was an explanation that will satisfy him for the meantime.

Peter smiled at him. “Thank you…Tony.”

Tony smiled back, and lightly pushed Peter towards the room door. “Get some rest. FRIDAY will wake you up at whatever time you want her to wake you up at. Well, she’ll wake you for breakfast, but it’s Saturday tomorrow so you can sleep in and catch up on sleep.”

Peter nodded. He slipped into the room, and Tony would be lying if he said he didn’t notice a look of longing on Peter’s face.

A fatherly urge overcame Tony, but the door was shut before he could act on it.

Tony lowered his head and shook it. He should also try and sleep. He hasn’t slept properly for a few days and it was beginning to catch up on him as well.


	15. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the full version of Peter and Harley's fight that was suggested by Jessica
> 
> Also teenagers are assholes, and Peter and Harley don't know how to talk to each other with an argument ensuring - Flash is also the biggest asshole of the three of them tbh.
> 
> This chapter is quite short which is why I'm uploading on Thursday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be uploading this story from Thursday-Saturday (my time) because I am going away this weekend and I will have time to finish off a few more chapters for leeway.

Peter huffed as he adjusted some of the wiring. Harley skidded into the room, throwing his project onto one of the spare desk. Karen hissed, leaping into the air with a beat of her wings, trying to get as far away from the loose papers that had floated around the air.

Peter flinched at the sound, the noise resonated within his head and he scowled slightly. “Harley, can you not do that please?”

Harley scowled, eyes narrowing at him. “Why? Does it bother you?”

“It’s distracting.” Peter hissed, trying to reign in his annoyance towards him. His fingers dug into the table slightly, his tongue ran along his teeth and could feel his teeth elongating slightly from his anger. “We are trying to work.”

“Right.” Harley rolled his eyes. “So…I heard something between you and Flash yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” Peter asked, Karen swooped back down to perch on the desk as she eyed the hoverboard prototype. “I mean, Flash was asking me about decathlon…”

Harley propped himself onto his elbow. “Is that all? Flash told me that wasn’t what you were talking about, instead I was the topic of discussion.”

Peter hissed, looking around not wanting to get interrogated in a small room with no way to escape. “Do we have to talk about this here?”

“If not now, when?” Harley snapped, shifting closer to Peter. “Come on, what were you saying?”

“Fine!” Peter snapped. “I mentioned that he was changing you! You weren’t always like this. You became friends with Flash and he has almost manipulated you into one of his lackeys.”

Karen shifted, her eyes blinking. “Boss, please…Not here, not in public.”

Sadly, the other intern students had glanced over in their direction. Marcus and Chloe moved closer, both tensing. Then again, both did karate and could prevent a physical fight if it did break out, so Peter felt no need to worry about them. Also, both were seventeen and were the oldest interns, so they felt responsible for the younger students.

Harley narrowed his eyes. “Somehow I don’t believe you.”

“Why don’t you believe me?” Peter argued, moving backwards to a feeble attempt to put distance between them.

“Cause you and Flash are telling me different stories, and I know you don’t like me so why on Earth would you tell me the truth.” Harley pointed, looking unimpressed.

Marcus stepped forward. “Peter, Harley.” His tone was a warning, and Peter knew that Marcus would get involved if it turned south. Peter knew it would turn south, much faster than Marcus could intervene.

Karen sensed it as well, tensing up and getting ready to leap into the sky when a fight was to break out. Her wings fluttered very slightly, almost anticipation but because it was a robot body it had nothing to do with muscles and adrenaline. It had taken her months to perfect it, and Peter was still amazed by it all.

“Because I actually respect you?” Peter asked. “As a person, and not someone who knows Tony Stark.”

Harley bristled. “What about the whole gravity gun thing?”

“First of all, it’s a gun!” Peter yelled, losing his patience and jumping to his feet. “Of course, people would be suspicious, because you know SI doesn’t make guns anymore!”

“Its’ not a gun! Not like a gun everyone assumes.” Harley snapped, also leaping to his feet. “Have you never played Half-Life?”

Peter shook his head. “I have, but that isn’t the point. It is still a dangerous weapon and can be altered to be similar to Iron Man’s repulsors if it gets into the wrong hands.”

At that moment Tony and Pepper walked into the room, eyes landing on Peter and Harley, and Marcus who was watching closely from just a few feet away.

Harley snarled. “A hoverboard isn’t that good either!”

“At least I’m working on a way to prevent that from happening. I know I can’t do it, but maybe someone else can.” Peter argued.

He should’ve seen it coming. Seriously, he should’ve. Harley has been hanging out with Flash and been friends with him since he moved to Midtown. The punch still took him by surprise and collided with Peter’s cheek and nose.

Karen screeched. “Boss!” She took to the air, observing the scene in front of her.

Peter shook his head and growled slightly. He tackled Harley without a second thought, and maybe he should’ve reconsidered his actions. Of course, adrenaline was coursing through his body, along with the spider instincts that forced him into attacking whatever had pushed him into a corner.

Most spiders after all never attacked anything without reason, and most spider attacks on humans came from spiders being scared that the human was going to hurt them. Spiders react to when some human messes with them. So, Peter’s reaction was more like a spider than what he used to be like before the bite.

Marcus jumped up and yanked the two boys apart, and luckily Peter had not resisted and gone to one end of the room while Harley moved towards Tony and Pepper.

Tony yelled. “What was going on in here?!”

Harley gritted his teeth. “Peter wasn’t repeating what he was saying about me.”

“I’m telling you, Flash is a dick!” Peter snapped, allowing Karen to perch on his shoulder.

“Yeah, then again I’m not parading around my AI.” Harley scowled.

Peter bristled. “Maybe it’s because you don’t have one?”

Harley snarled and almost leaped at Peter, but Marcus jumped between them and was able to wrangle Harley back.

Tony narrowed his eyes. “Boys, I will not repeat myself. What was going on in here?”

Tina spoke up. “They got into an argument and it just escalated when their projects came into the conversation. I think it started with a conversation that happened at school.”

Peter huffed, looking around the room. His body was still tense wanting to find an exit that he can get to without being interrogated. His animal instincts were screaming at him to run away and get away from what was dangerous to him. That danger was Harley, and possibly even Marcus, Tony and Pepper.

Harley spoke up. “Then again, I’m not surprised you know nothing about it. Peter does bully me at school.”

“What?” Peter spluttered. His eyes narrowed slightly, and his shoulders slumped. It was pointless, it was partially true to a degree, and Peter didn’t like it, but Flash did bring out the worst in him sometimes.

“Peter, is this true?” Tony asked, looking confused, obviously sceptical that his well-mannered intern was someone who bullied another one of his interns.

Everyone held their breaths as they awaited Peter’s response.

Peter shrugged. “To a degree. Flash is obviously not telling you the full story, but I won’t try and prove you wrong. I don’t want to dig my grave any deeper.” Peter grumbled. “At this point it’s about twelve feet down.”

“Flash?” Pepper asked.

“My friend, he and Peter don’t like each other.” Harley said.

The vigilante rolled his eyes. “Only because I’m smarter than him and he doesn’t like it.”

Tony shot Peter a look. “Peter, stay quiet.”

“Fine, but only because you are my boss.” Peter nodded. “Not because you’re my dad or anything.” He muttered the last part which only granted him a raised eyebrow from Chloe and her mouthing, “oddly specific of you”.

He pointedly ignored her. He ignored the sense of mild irritation from the older female, she gathered the idea that Peter didn’t want to talk about it and respected that.

Tony ran a hand down his face. “Peter, Harley, why was I not aware of this?”

“Not like it’ll change anything.” Peter said. “You would still treat Harley like you always have, the most you’d do to me is just make me a normal intern. Which I’m down for by the way.”

Harley grumbled. “That was exactly why, you would let Peter get away with anything.”

“Like Mr Stark is letting you get away with building a gun?” Peter shot back.

Karen murmured. “Boss, please, relax.”

Tony yelled, shocking everyone. “Enough! I’ve dealt with you two and your attitudes towards one another for long enough. You two are going to have to work together, and I will be using FRIDAY to ensure that both of you actually do work together.”

“What?!” Peter and Harley both exclaimed.

Marcus frowned, folding his arms. “I too will also be watching both of you to make sure you don’t try and kill each other.”

Karen huffed and flew towards Tony. “Come on, you made a good choice for once.”

Tony shook his head. “I am overseeing every single project, I will make sure none of the blue prints get out and into the wrong hands. The gravity ‘gun’ and the hoverboard are two of the projects that will be very restricted to the public.”

Karen fluttered beside Pepper. She met Peter’s gaze and he looked down to avoid her eyes.

Tony frowned. “Are you two okay with that? Regardless of whether or not you are, you will have to deal with it.”

“Fine.” Harley muttered, eyes narrowed.

Peter rolled his eyes. “I guess I can deal with it.”

He really couldn’t. His entire body thrummed with anticipation. Somehow Harley wasn’t dangerous, but his body was under the impression that he was dangerous in a different way. He and Flash were friends, and everyone knows that Flash loves to pick on Peter for reasons that were mostly unknown.

Now, he was forced to spend time with Harley, but maybe, just maybe…It wasn’t going to be as bad as he figures it is going to be.

Karen hummed as she flew back to Peter. "This is the start of a beautiful friendship."

"Shut the fuck up, Karen." Peter hissed.

"Language, Peter!" Tony yelled.

"Please shut the fuck up, Karen." Peter rolled his eyes, emitting a loud groan from Iron Man.


	16. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first outcome of the fight, teenagers being teenagers, and Tina has a connection with another Marvel character ;)

Tina yelped, hissing at Harley. “Watch it, Keener!”

Harley looked sheepish. “I’m sorry. It is still a prototype.”

Karen huffed, looking at Peter who turned the hoverboard prototype on. “Prototypes aren’t meant to be dangerous.”

Harley lowered his head. “I’m sorry, I swear.” He looked at Peter with wide eyes. “Hey, Peter, can you check over the work?”

“You are being awfully friendly.” Peter spoke, raising an eyebrow as Karen moved her way between the two boys. “Flash been annoying you?”

“He’s constantly asking me to invite him to meet the Avengers.” Harley confessed, slamming the gravity gun down. “Also, this isn’t working.”

Peter leaned towards the blue print. “Have you considered using a forcefield of sorts?”

“How?” Harley groaned. “I’ve tried everything, even with Vibranium.”

Peter looked at Karen who groaned and leaped off the desk to walk towards Tony. “Go ask the princess, Wakanda used to have a force field, she may be the only person who knows how to create a forcefield – let alone one with Vibranium.”

“I thought you don’t like Princess Shuri.” Harley asked, sitting down to re-read his work.

“Just because I don’t like her doesn’t mean I don’t understand how intelligent she is.” Peter explained, dropping the hoverboard and watching it hover above the ground for a few moments before landing quietly. “I would ask her for assistance if I required it. Everyone should get help if they need it, no matter how smart you may be.”

He conveniently did not include that he acted like he didn’t like her. The less Harley knew, the better.

Harley sighed, leaning his chin on his arms. “I hate it.”

“Hate what? People are assuming you’ll inherit the company. Most would jump at the chance.” Peter asked, taking apart the hoverboard to study the wiring.

“Because…” Harley looked uncomfortable. “I dunno, I mention it a lot. I don’t mind being heir, except for the fact that everyone is aware of it.”

Peter raised an eyebrow and turned to face Harley directly. “What is Flash doing? If he is making you feel bad, stop being his friend.”

Harley gulped, eyes turning down. “Did you know they had a son? I think they are trying to replace him with me, even my mum is okay with it. One less mouth to feed. I look too much like my father, she hates it.”

The two teenagers fell silent as Peter eyed Harley, knowing that Harley hasn’t spoken about this too anyone with how his voice slightly shook and quietened as he went to. Suddenly everything clicked in Peter’s head, and he felt more upset with himself about not revealing who he actually is.

Perhaps he should tell Harley to make him relax. Eyes studying and noticing the rapid heartbeat, Peter decided not to. It was too risky.

While Peter had gotten forced to spend time with Harley, he still did not trust him as much as he trusted Ned. Well, then again Peter didn’t trust anyone like he trusted Ned, even if his best friend tended to run his mouth a lot.

“I never knew my parents, actually.” Peter murmured, fixing some of the wiring. “My aunt and uncle died when I was really young.”

“You live with your aunt, don’t you?” Harley asked, turning back to his project but glancing at Peter from the corner of his eye.

“Yeah, but I was adopted. I was never called their son, only their nephew. I…I am actually thankful for that though.” Peter explained, flicking his hand.

Harley nodded slowly. “Oh.” Suddenly he brightened up. “I asked Tony and Pepper if they wanted to come to the competition, but they said you didn’t ask them.”

Peter paused. “Yeah, it slipped my mind.” He confessed, well it partly true. He mentioned it to Bruce and Stephen, considering both are doctors so they might be interested.

Funnily enough, Loki was the most interested even though he tried to disguise it. Thor offered to join Loki, Stephen and Bruce, and Loki was going to disguise all of them, so no attention was drawn to them. So yeah, it slipped Peter’s mind to ask Tony and Pepper because he had already asked a couple of others, but no-one needed to know that.

Harley jumped up and tugged on Peter’s arm. “Are you done for now?” At Peter’s nod, Harley continued. “Cool, lets go and ask Tony to see if we can go and talk to Princess Shuri. I know you don’t like her but still.”

Peter wanted to argue but fell silent. He had promised himself that he would be nicer and more willing to listen to what Harley says no matter what, so he could have a better understanding of who he is. Walking over to where Tony and Karen were discussing new technology SI could release to the public, Peter felt unease gnawing at his bones.

He really shouldn’t be so worried, after all Tony would let Harley do almost everything, and this was to help his project be safer. However, Peter could sense that Harley wanted to change what his project is as he has reached a lot of roadblocks in his work. That could be disheartening to anyone really, but Peter felt a little bad for him.

Chloe raised an eyebrow, and beckoned Peter over to her. Shifting, Peter strode over to the older female and spotted her drone project. Tina, the weird girl who always seemed to know more than she let on.

He thinks he remembered her telling him once that his secret would be the thing to save him.

She sounded really ominous.

Tina was, no is, lovely, but she can be scary sometimes.

“Uh, Chloe, you wanted me over here?” Peter stammered, feeling Tina’s gaze on him.

He was no idiot, he knew she had a crush on him. She also knew that he didn’t like her back and respected it to not do anything. Peter wanted to feel sorry, but of course the princess of Wakanda had captured his attention even though he tried to ignore it. He couldn’t ignore it forever after all, but he could hope.

“I wanted to ask you how you and Harley are going. You two seem to be on much better terms.” Chloe said, turning back to her project and Peter sat down on the empty chair next to her.

It was impossible not to talk to Chloe, she might’ve only been a couple of years older than him, but she was wise and understanding in a way that a lot of teenagers aren’t. Probably because she was a young adult. “Well, only here. At school it’s a different story.”

“Who is Flash?” Chloe asked, ignoring her work and turning fully to face Peter. “I know I heard you two say that you and Flash don’t get along but why?”

Peter pursed his lips and flicked his gaze towards where Harley stood talking with Tony about talking to Shuri. Karen was looking at him over Tony’s shoulder and she nodded as if understanding what predicament Peter was currently in.

“I mean, Flash and I were friends in primary school, but he didn’t like Ned at all. I was the only person who actually appeared to like Ned, we always liked the same things so that helped.” Peter explained. “After reaching middle school Flash began actively hating me and I didn’t understand at first. I guess it was because I am smarter than him and always got given scholarships into schools he had to work himself to get into. That or get his father to bribe the school.”

Peter shrugged. “I…All of his friends don’t like me for some shitty excuse, I mean we did get into a physical fight one time. I humiliated him, and he ended up targeting me more and more.”

Chloe hummed. “Want me to teach him a lesson?”

“No need, I have learned to deal with it. Plus, if he turns his attention from me he turns it to others who aren’t as mentally strong as I am.” Peter confessed, his voice going soft. “I guess Flash also doesn’t like the fact that the teachers like me and let me get away with some stuff that he can’t.”

“So why does he bully you mostly?” Chloe tilted her head, and Peter could tell that she was planning the untimely demise of Flash.

“Because I’m one of the poorest students in a public school that is pretty rich for being the top school in New York.” Peter sighed, tilting his head back. His fingers drummed across his leg and he closed his eyes to try and not show any thing to Chloe. It was pointless, she seemed to be able to read him like an open book and it was unnerving for the male.

She nudged him. “Harley is walking over, best to go and join him.” When Peter opened his eyes, she shot him a look. “And try not to get into a fight again.”

Peter chuckled slightly as he stood up to join Harley and the two of them began walking out of the room to where they could call Shuri without anyone interrupting.

 

Tina leaned over to Chloe. "So why is Mr Stark going to be suffering?"

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"They are curious as to why Mr Stark is suffering." Tina shrugged.

"Who?" Chloe demanded, turning around to properly face the younger.

Tina grinned. "Those who read this."

Chloe looked uncomfortable. "Okay..."

 

Karen stretched. “See, I told you they are fine while they are in this building.”

Tony groaned. “Why do they hate each other?”

“Flash’s manipulation.” Karen spoke, staring at new Quinjet design. “A long story, look I’ve sent recordings of Peter and Harley’s interactions at school to FRIDAY. If you want to understand them the best way to do so is the understand what you can’t see.”

“Are you saying I can’t help it?” Tony questioned, leaning towards the robot.

The AI snorted. “No, you did the only thing you can do. Putting Harley and Peter together. However, while you know everything about Harley, you know very little about Peter.” Karen lowered her head. “I want to tell you, but it’s not my place to tell.”

Tony leaned back in his chair. “I was definitely wrong about you, Karen. You are definitely an AI I can respect and like.”

“I’m glad you think so, now without the Accords eating at your mind actively anymore.” Karen grinned, tail curling around her paws.

Tony smiled slightly, causing her to gasp. “You are capable of smiling?!” 

“Shut up.” Tony scowled as Karen cackled.

 

Shuri answered the call that she received from Stark Industries. Curiosity bubbled up within her, obvious wondering as to who was contacting her.

“Princess Shuri.” She answered before the screen flickered to reveal Harley and Peter. Shuri suddenly froze as she saw Peter eye the lab behind her and she tried to avoid showing any kind of reaction. “Harley, Peter, what can I do for you?”

Harley spoke up. “Princess Shuri, well…I need help with designing a force field out of the Vibranium. I just need some advice.”

Shuri nodded and glanced at Peter who shook his head. “I’m only here because Mr Stark told me to.”

Well, just because they promised to forgive each other for what they said doesn’t mean that Peter had to like her after all. A pang of disappointment stabbed at her chest, but she ignored it. “You don’t have to be here then, if you really don’t want to.”

Peter waved his hand to something that she couldn’t see. “I’m going to be adjusting our projects.”

Harley looked worried. “You don’t need to do mine, ya know, Peter.”

“Eh, I don’t mind. I just want you to still keep note of everything though.” Peter shrugged, shifting so he could work on his hoverboard.

Shuri glanced at him, and then realised Harley had noticed her glance and blinked in surprise. Shuri shook her head. Right, force fields. That was more important than her stupid crush on Peter.

“Right, so where are you stuck exactly?”

 

Tony stared out the window as the interns talked and chatted during their break. Karen had moved to her hawk robotic form and had perched herself on the windowsill.

“So, are you going to the decathlon competition?” Karen asked, once FRIDAY had stopped informing Tony of what Thaddeus Ross wants from him. “I know Harley told you about it.”

“I want to go, but…would it be to obvious since Harley will be there?” Tony asked. “But I would like to see how Peter goes in competitions, I know he is really intelligent.”

Karen seemed to puff herself up in pride. “He is the best of the whole team.”

Tony blinked. “Is that so?” Karen nodded. “Well, then I should go and evaluate it for myself.”

“Do you even need to be convinced of how intelligent he is?” Karen questioned, hopping along the edge to stay close to Tony.

“Are you interrogating me?” Tony asked, looking dumbfounded.

“Yes.”

“Why?” The billionaire shifted almost uneasily because Karen was much more human like than FRIDAY and Jarvis, and he didn’t know how to feel about it.

“I want to know who you really are. Are you going to make Harley your heir?” The eagle stood tall and proud. “If so, what will you say to the public?”

“IF anyone asks I’ll tell them that I’m thinking of making Harley my heir.” Tony nodded. “Pepper and I have already discussed this.”

Tony noticed Karen deflate, as if she was expecting that answer but was still disappointed with his response. “I’m just concerned about it. Harley’s mum is acting as though she doesn’t want him, but we worried about taking Harley in. We already lost a son, only a year after he was born because someone wanted to kill him and to hurt Pep and I.”

Karen opened her mouth but shut it. “Well, you’ll need an heir anyway.”

Reaching out before she could fly off, Tony asked, his tone was soft and concerned. “What aren’t you telling me about Peter? Happy said that he thought he recognised Peter from somewhere and Rhodey even said that he thinks he knows Peter better after hearing him say something. They won’t tell me anything because they aren’t sure.”

The AI shook her head. “That’s not my place to say, Anthony. I wish I could tell you, but maybe Harold and James are onto something. However, if they are correct it’s not their place either.”

Tony did not look like he liked that answer but nodded and let Karen fly off to join Harley and Peter who just walked into the room. At least they didn’t look like they wanted to murder each other.

Small mercies.


	17. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things happen and an enemy returns properly >:D
> 
> Decathlon competition also occurs

Rhodey narrowed his eyes as he stared at Peter who managed to maneuverer himself around the mess of a room that Tony had claimed was “organised chaos”. In reality it was mostly just chaos and not so much organised.

The male leaned back in his seat as peter made his way over to him, question in his eyes as he studied the braces. Rhodey shook his head, answering Peter’s silent question which was if the braces were hurting him or uncomfortable in any way.

When the teenager made his way towards Tony with his prototype for his hoverboard, Rhodey frowned as his gaze studied the young male. Suddenly, it seemed to slap Rhodey right in the face.

Peter standing by Tony’s side was too striking. It made Rhodey freeze up in shock when it suddenly made complete sense to him.

Where Tony’s hair was dark brown, Peter’s hair was lighter and seemed redder in certain light. His eyes were also deep brown with a mix of hazel. Peter stood more like Pepper but appeared to hold himself more like Tony, even if he didn’t know it himself.

Rhodey felt his heart constrict when the realisation fell upon him.

Peter was too similar to both Tony and Pepper to be the child of Richard and Mary.

Rhodey had met both, and while Richard had black hair, Mary had blonde, and both had deep green eyes. There was no way that Peter could be their child.

He had to be Zayden. That was the only explanation towards Peter’s appearance and mannerisms.

It also explained his attitude towards Harley, who was speculated to be heir of Stark Industries, and why he was actively worrying over him. Rhodey felt a smile cross his face. Of course, Peter would know who his parents are, he doubted that Richard and Mary called themselves his parents unless it was necessary. He obviously gained the Stark intelligence, and his AI named Karen and her robot forms were further proof of their relationship.

Rhodey turned to Happy who had entered the room after Peter. Happy was also watching the two of them interact. Thankfully, Tony and Peter’s relationship had turned to a more personal one after the huge argument between Peter and Harley a few days ago. 

“Hey, Happy?” Rhodey asked and waited until he got a confirmation noise from the body guard before he continued. “Does Peter and Tones look like each other to you?”

Happy blinked and slowly turned to face him. He looked deadpanned. “You just realised how similar they are?”

Rhodey frowned. “Unlike you I haven’t seen Peter often, very rarely mind you.”

A shrug was the only response he got, but Rhodey knew Happy as well as Tony and Pepper. Happy was just making a point.

“It’s been running around my head for who Peter really is.” Rhodey whispered, not sure if he wanted the two males they were discussing to hear what they were saying.

Happy leaned back, barely relaxing but enough to make it clear he was interested in what Rhodey had to say. “What idea?”

A blink before Rhodey spoke. “He called me uncle.”

Happy turned to face Rhodey. “What?”

“Peter, he called me uncle.” Rhodey explained. “He said that he doesn’t want to lose another uncle when he thought I was asleep in the med bay. I don’t know how he got in, but FRIDAY apparently knew to let him in.”

Happy raised an eyebrow. “So, you think Peter is Zayden?”

Rhodey was exasperated. “It makes sense doesn’t it? He obviously knows he is Tony and Pepper’s son, everything else falls into place if he does. He called me uncle, which means he knows that there is a specific reason why I am his uncle. I’m also his god father if that is the case.”

Happy tilted his head and nodded slowly. “I can see how Peter can be Zayden, but unless he tells us himself we can only speculate on if that is true or not.”

Rhodey frowned, obviously wanting his words to be true.

He and Happy watched as Peter tested his hoverboard in the safety of the room, despite how chaotic it was. Rhodey noticed Tony’s worried expression change into something full of pride when Peter was able to steady himself on the prototype. The hoverboard managed to stay in the air for a good minute before Peter had to jump off it.

Peter seemed to discuss his ideas with Tony as holograms appeared between them. Rhodey felt his expression change into one of sorrow and misery. Peter should’ve really grown up with Pepper and Tony doting on him, and with Rhodey and Happy as the best uncles ever.

However, Rhodey had a feeling that the Peter that they know wouldn’t be the same if he was taken by Richard. Growing up rich did affect people and growing up the way that he did meant that Peter was more considerate towards everyone and didn’t have many prejudices against others. He is also very willing to help the “little person”, and actively hated weapons.

Rhodey could only smile. While he wished he saw Peter grow up, he was glad to see that Peter was pretty much a perfect teenager. He figured he’d have that happen every time, so Peter could always be a person that he could be proud of.

Happy grumbled. ‘You are looking whimsical.” 

“Shut up.” Rhodey snapped but it held no heat.

 

Peter and Harley stood with the decathlon team, and Flash sneered at Peter. “Trying to befriend Harley?”

Harley shifted uneasily, before choosing to ignore Peter. “I hope I don’t get pulled in for a section that I don’t understand.”

Peter and Ned glanced at each other, before the former said. “Relax, you are much smarter than you give yourself credit for.”

“Not as smart as you two and MJ.” Harley insisted. “I doubt anyone is.”

Peter felt his cheeks heat up. “Like I said, you don’t give yourself enough credit.”

MJ walked over. “While I am glad you called me one of the smartest people on this team, everyone here is extremely intelligent. You would not be on the team if you were not considered smart enough. Peter is right, you should give yourself more credit but not too much.” She jerked her head towards Flash. “We already have one cocky member on this team.”

Peter and Ned snickered slightly, alongside everyone else who heard. Flash’s face flushed a deep red and even Harley couldn’t help but laugh at MJ’s words. Peter nudged Harley’s shoulder and dragged him and Ned behind him.

While Harley was learning to talk with the other members of the team, he had been apart of Flash for majority of it. After his Peter’s conversation about Flash a while ago, it made Harley believe that he was in fact being manipulated by Flash and was willing to hang out with Peter. Thankfully the two of them managed to get along quite well, well until Flash showed up and guilt tripped Harley into hanging out with him once more.

Ned and Peter were less than pleased as you could probably imagine.

“Where are we going?” Harley whispered, as they stood on the sidelines and stared out across the crowd.

“Did Tony and Pepper say they’d be here?” Peter asked.

Ned frowned. “When did you start calling them Tony and Pepper?”

Peter blushed. “Long story, Ned. I’ll tell you about it later.”

Harley didn’t seem bothered because he had heard Peter calling them Tony and Pepper for a week at least. He nodded slowly. “Yeah, they said they would be. We should try looking at the back of the crowd. Maybe that’s where they are to not draw attention towards themselves.”

Ned hissed and pointed towards a couple. “There they are. Is that them?”

“Yep.” Harley grinned. “Good eye, Ned.”

“Thank you, it’s something I take great pride in. Along with getting a hint of a situation.” Ned sounded extremely proud.

Well, Peter could say that was true. He owed his best friend so much when he needed a distraction from his thoughts or to get away as Spiderman, sometimes he wished he wouldn’t be alerted of when Peter gets wounded. Nor did Peter wish that Ned would stay up to treat his wounds when Peter didn’t want to wake May.

Nonetheless, Peter owed Ned, but Ned had claimed that he didn’t owe him anything as best friends looked out for each other no matter what.

Peter gazed around the crowd to spot four males seated in a corner, discussing things quietly to themselves. Peter tuned into their conversation, which was obviously about Thanos. Most of their conversations were about Thanos and the stolen sceptre that none of the Masters of Mystic Arts have been able to locate since it was stolen.

He could tell which one was which. Steven was stretched in his seat, looking around which a curious expression, but looked marginally bored unless he was talking with his companions. Bruce looked the most worried, looking around as if someone could see through the illusion despite Loki being the best sorcerer at illusion magic. Thor looked very excited, obviously pleased to be able to witness more Midgard culture. Loki looked the most bored, but Peter could tell he was interested in the entire thing.

Look, the four of them wanted to tag along then they were going to have to sit through the entire thing.

He met Steven’s gaze who barely nodded at him.

Soon Mr Harrington was ushering the three boys to their positions. Harley sitting at the side along side the other students who will be called on once the second half of the competition starts. Peter and Ned took their seats on either side of MJ.

 

The competition was something Tony was not expecting to enjoy as much as he did. While Harley also answered quite a few questions, it was obvious that Peter and the Midtown’s captain, Michelle, were the two that answered the most questions correctly. 

Tony felt pride when Midtown was announced as the victors of the competition and would be heading into the next level of the championship.

However, he knew it was mostly because of Peter. He was curious as to why he was so proud of Peter, to the point he had briefly forgotten that Harley was part of the team as well.

Pepper murmured. “I wonder why Peter never told us he was the best student on his decathlon team.”

“No idea, maybe he didn’t want to boast about himself.” Tony thought. “It’s not like him, after all.”

Pepper nodded. “Fair enough. I just wished Harley’s mother came.”

Tony made a face. “I don’t know why she is refusing to be around her own son. I feel sorry for Harley.”

Pepper and Tony began to walk through the crowd when they noticed Peter weaving through the people and stopped in front of four adults that the two of them didn’t recognise.

They slipped close enough to hear what they were saying but not close enough to make it obvious.

“I’m glad you made it!” Peter grinned, eyes sparkling in happiness.

“I am mortified that I could indeed make it.” The male wearing the full black suit grumbled but was nudged by the male wearing more casual clothes. He scowled at him, they looked similar enough to be related.

“My dear brother why are you like this?” The blonde grinned widely, especially when the scowl became deeper.

“If you weren’t so annoying it wouldn’t be this bad.” The other muttered, before stalking off out of the building.

The male wearing a mic of casual and formal groaned and went after him, muttering something under his breath but it caused Peter to snort a laugh.

Peter looked at Tony and Pepper, whispered something to his companions before making his way towards them.

“Harley and I were worried you weren’t going to show up.” Peter said, he still had a grin on his face. “We thought we saw you in the crowd.

Pepper frowned. “You never mentioned this to us.”

“I forgot.” Peter answered, rubbing the back of his neck. “I asked a few other family friends and it slipped my mind.” 

Tony nodded slowly. “Next time you tell us about something like this. We know we are closer with Harley, but we are also interested in your academic abilities.”

Peter nodded slowly. “I’ll try to remember to tell you about the next thing that crops up.”

With that, Peter walked off with the two males. They were chatting about something that seemed rather exciting. Tony and Pepper could only watch as he left with uncertainty gnawing at their hearts.

 

Peter shifted as he walked on the sidewalk with Thor and Bruce. “So, any leads on the sceptre?”

Thor shook his head. “No, nothing. We are worried, that sceptre is full of incredible power and shouldn’t be allowed to get into the wrong hands.”

“Whoever stole it must be either extremely powerful or is working for someone who is extremely powerful.” Bruce continued. “You shouldn’t be worried about it, though Pete.”

Peter frowned. “But, it includes me, doesn’t it? For that reason, I am worried about it. I can be of use.”

Thor looked horrified. “You are still a child. A child with powers, but a child!”

Peter frowned but didn’t bother arguing any more. Bruce and Thor looked very set in their decision. They just had to find Loki and Steven, because Loki would cause mass chaos if he was allowed to run free.

The teenager made a face. He didn’t want to be useless, and they didn’t view him as useless, they probably wanted him to have better control of his powers. It also didn’t help that Loki was set on teaching Peter magic, which Peter also needed to learn to control before he could use them any time he wanted.

Peter glanced over his shoulder when he saw Tony and Pepper getting into their car. A pang of sadness and longing stabbed him in the heart, but he turned his head away to avoid noticing them looking at him.

 

A figure stood in front of a dead body that was covered in the snow. The sceptre was raised, and magic swirled around it.

“Awaken, soldier.” The voice spoke, it laced with darkness and evil intent.

The magic sparked and surrounded the body.

A few tense moments passed before eyes snapped open. They were eerily ice blue, his skin pale as some of his body was replaced with metal. The figure only grinned when the dead man stood up and stared soullessly at him.

“I want you to find someone, someone who wants Spiderman.” The figure spoke, and the soldier nodded before walking almost robotically out of the room.

The figure grinned as the sceptre created a screen in front of him. “My lord.”

A deep voice echoed around him. “Why did you contact me, minion?”

“I have found three infinity stones.” The figure’s eyes sparkled with evil. “I know how to get a hold of them, and I will deliver them to you as you wish.”

The unknown voice seemed to sneer if his tone was anything to go by. “I will only praise you once you do give me those stones. Once you do I will give you whatever you want.”

“As you wish, Thanos.” Red Skull spoke, an evil grin crossing his face.


	18. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Bucky!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't be updating on Sunday (which is why Friday had to updates) but as I'm going away for the weekend and won't be back until late saturday I won't get around to the comments until then

Peter closed his locker and rested his head against the metal door. He took a deep breath, trying to contain and keep his headache at bay. Well, until he could get home and put his mask on to block out all unnecessary noises. 

A noise caused his attention to snap towards it. It was Flash. It was always Flash though.

“Parker, you are late.” Flash said, obviously indicating as to how Peter has taken his time to get out of school.

“Well, I’m late for something I don’t care for.” Peter grumbled.

Flash leaned against the locker, causing Peter to step back. “That’s a shame. I missed you, Penis.”

Peter held back a remark that tried to force itself out of his mouth. “I thought you were going to try and suck up to Harley.”

“I do not.” Flash said, but the smirk on his face said otherwise.

Regardless, Peter could hear in Flash’s tone indicated that he didn’t give a shit that he was leading Harley into a fake friendship.

Flash shrugged. “It’s not my fault Harley wanted to be my friend. So, what, I’m using him to meet the Avengers? He won’t know, and he certainly doesn’t.”

Peter stiffened. “One day this will bite you on the ass, Eugene.”

“That day is not today, Parker.” Flash leaned towards Peter. “You shouldn’t say something especially when you have no evidence to back up your claims.”

“You should take that advice for yourself.” Peter muttered, eyes narrowing but didn’t move back to stand his ground.

Ned and Harley stopped in the hallway as they stared at the two. Flash shoved Peter back, and Peter let himself stumble backwards.

Flash glared. “You don’t know what you are saying.”

Harley looked confused. “Flash, Peter? What is going on?”

Flash blinked, looking at Harley with fake sadness. “Peter was talking shit about you.”

“No, I wasn’t!” Peter cried. “Harley, listen to me, please. He’s misleading you.”

Harley looked uncertain, but Flash snarled. “You don’t know Harley like I do!”

“At least I’m not a manipulative asshole!” Peter snapped.

Ned moved towards Peter. “Pete…Calm down, please.”

Flash dragged Harley down the hallway. “Come on, Harley. Peter doesn’t know you. He was talking shit and was making assumptions about you.”

Peter hissed, and Harley looked back at him with guilt and confusion. Harley was going along with Flash because they were friends, after all. He wasn’t that close with Peter and Ned.

Ned placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s go home.”

 

Loki perched on a light post in the form of a pigeon. While he normally hated small forms, especially when he wasn’t causing mischief or chaos, he had promised Thor he’d behave himself.

He also knew that Thor didn’t fully believe him.

He was only slightly bitter about that.

He watched as he saw two teenagers leave the school, one shooting daggers and a smirk at Peter and Ned who trailed out after them. Peter looked to be in pain, and Loki wanted to fly over to him to assess the situation.

“Hey, Penis! Aren’t you going to say bye?!” Flash called, as he and Harley stopped outside a flashy car.

Peter scowled and turned away. Ned was holding onto Peter’s elbow and allowing his best friend to lean on him for support.

“Shut up, Flash!” Ned yelled.

Loki felt thankful that Ned and Peter were best friends but felt an urge to teach this idiot – Flash – a lesson about bullying others. The god remembered what he promised Thor, and reluctantly didn’t do anything. He knew Peter and Ned were going to be heading home, so he didn’t bother trying to watch them. Karen would be nearby if something did happen, and Peter was capable of taking care of himself.

His wings stretched as he took off as the sports car pulled out of the car park at the front of the school. Loki never understand why some people liked the flashier cars more than the simple cars. They all took you from your starting location to your end point after all.

Loki flew between the buildings as he headed towards the sanctum. Perhaps he should mention this to Thor. He knew his brother had grown a soft spot for the young Stark, to the point he and Bruce would tell him about stupid things Anthony did when they were around him, and how he helped them out.

Thor was relaxing on a couch. His eyes closed but spoke sensing Loki in the room. “You are late.”

Loki shifted back and scowled. “Well, I was waiting for them to actively leave the school before I came back. Heimdall was right though, Peter is getting picked on.”

“So, he should fight back.” Thor said.

“Not everything can be solved with violence!” Loki grumbled, collapsing onto the couch. “Move your legs, you great lump.”

Thor faked a huge yawn and Loki growled.

“Anyway, I saw that Flash kid that is picking on Peter.” Loki said, changing the subject slightly.

Thor hummed.

“Using child insults, but still, Peter is a sensitive soul. He is probably taking it more to heart than he is letting on.” Loki continued.

Thor made no response and Loki screeched. “Are you even listening to me?”

When the silence stretched a couple of heartbeats, Loki shifted into a pigeon and began to divebomb Thor by pecking at his face and arms. Thor flailed as he tried to ward off the assault that he was suffering.

“Brother! Why?!” Thor cried.

The door opened to reveal Stephan. He raised a single eyebrow as she stared at the two gods.

“What the fuck is going on?” His voice rose.

Thor spluttered as Loki flew off to change back. Eyes narrowed at each other.

“An unprovoked attack!” Thor declared.

Loki growled. “You deserved it.”

“How?” Thor asked, sounding very offended.

“You were born!” Loki snapped.

Thor and Loki began to argue, and Stephan could only stare at the two brothers. He shook his head.

“I don’t get paid enough to deal with this shit.” He muttered.

 

May ruffled Peter’s hair. “Evening, baby. Are you going out tonight?”

Peter nodded. “Yeah, it’s been a few nights since I was last out. Karen got word of a robbery going to happen tonight.”

“Stay safe.” May kissed his forehead.

The teenager cracked a grin. “I always stay safe. I can always go and see Bruce if I get seriously injured.”

May shook her head. “I wish you would take better care of yourself.”

“I know.” Peter slipped into his room before opening the door to reveal himself in his suit. “Karen will inform you, Bruce and Ned if something bad does happen that she can’t help with.”

May watched as Peter slipped out of the window and swung off into the night.

Peter found himself perched on a rooftop, chatting with Karen.

“So, any hints?” Peter asked, walking along the edge of the building.

“Iron Man is north with a hostage situation.” Karen spoke, sounding as though she was distracted with contacting FRIDAY.

Peter grinned under his mask and rushed off to swing towards Iron Man’s location. “Send it, girl!”

“Right away, boss.”

Peter landed on a light post and tilted his head as he looked at Iron Man. “Need help?”

Iron Man seemed surprised by his presence, as his head whipped around rather quickly to look at him. “Spiderling.”

The eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Doesn’t answer my question. Need help?”

“Only subdue. We can’t have anyone getting hurt.” Iron Man explained, flying a little closer to Spiderman.

“I only do subdue.” Peter teased. “Or have you been getting slack on keeping an eye on my record?”

“Don’t get snarky with me now, kid.” Iron Man muttered.

Peter could only grin. “Right, so…What do you have in mind?”

Iron Man groaned. “Just follow my lead.”

“Right, like I’m about to do that.” Peter waved his hand. “I can’t be targeted by cameras, and I can blend in better. Also, I’m much quieter than you.”

Iron Man seemed to ponder over what Peter was saying, but that gave the teenager enough time to swing in and head another way. Peter could tell that Iron Man wanted to yell at him for his recklessness.

Oh well.

That won’t be the only thing he would be yelled at for eventually.

 

Bucky stretched across the field that he, and the rogue Avengers, was allowed in. The flowers carried a sweet scent in the air. While Bucky wasn’t fully okay with his mind, Princess Shuri had told him that his mind was his own for the most part. She was out of Wakanda with her brother and his fiancé, in America talking with Stark.

The ex-assassin looked up at the clouds.

He longed for a storm.

He missed the way the rain held in the air, and the smell of the water permeating the ground. Everything was much fresher after a good rain storm.

However, Wakanda never got the same rain or storms that America did. The perks of their location.

Sadly, that also meant that Bucky knew the Royal family ever got to go anywhere without it involving some type of political reasoning behind it. Even the trip to America was for business.

Bucky picked the flowers around him once he rolled onto his stomach. Steve had wandered off, staying in his room. Bucky had asked the Dora Milaje to not tell Steve that he was out of Cryostasis for the moment.

While Steve was his best friend, he felt iffy about Steve not informing Stark about his parents’ deaths.

Heck, if Bucky had found out his parents had been murdered after believing they had died from ‘natural’ causes half of his life. Then, realise that his friend kept it from him – he would also attack the person regardless.

It was a normal human reaction to seeing that.

Bucky stared at the flower crown.

He felt a pang of nostalgia of when he would help his sisters learn how to make their own flower crowns. He wished he was with them, his life would be easier for sure.

He heard footsteps, quiet, but a glance up showed him Wanda Maximoff.

Bucky refused to show his irritation towards Maximoff. She, unlike him, willingly joined Hydra to kill people. To Bucky she was more of a monster than he was, yet Steve also brushed off her crimes.

Bucky knew how he felt about her and hated how she got special treatment.

Not Lang, who actively argued against Steve once they had gotten to Wakanda. As far as Bucky knew, Lang – no, Scott – was out of prison and had sided with the Accords.

Wanda sat down beside him. “You should go and see Steve. He is worried about you.”

I’m worried about Steve, Bucky thought but didn’t say it. “Maybe.”

He sat up and placed the flower crown on Wanda’s head. Maybe, just maybe, showing her a sign of kindness would not result in his mind being controlled by her magic. That fear alone made him hesitant to remain in the presence of her, she was Hydra. Probably more Hydra than he was.

All Hydra agents were always out to kill people, and she was out to kill Stark – no, Tony.

She looked very confused at him, head tilted to the side. Something churned inside Bucky. She looked too young, but Bucky knew she was about twenty-two, she wasn’t a child, no matter what Steve said.

“I know Hydra brainwashed you, they feed off negative emotions.” Bucky spoke, voice soft to try and prove to her not to try anything with him.

“Hydra didn’t brainwash me.” Wanda argued.

Bucky shook his head. “Why did you join them?” Join them willingly, most likely also willing to throw her teammates under the bus once she met up with any Hydra agents.

Wanda paused, seeming to ponder her answer even though Bucky had an idea of why. He had heard her sob story. “Because they promised me vengeance.”

“Vengeance, on who?” He regretted saying anything when Wanda’s eyes flashed red.

“Stark.” Wanda snarled. “He killed my parents.”

Bucky furrowed his eyebrows. “Did he kill them, or send the weapons or just make the weapons?”

“He obviously made them!” Wanda screeched.

Bucky lowered his voice. “Then, did he want them to die? Were they used by him or someone else?”

The young adult growled. “Regardless he killed them.”

“But…” Bucky struggled to sort out his words. “If you saw someone dying to a knife, do you blame the person who killed the person or the person who made the weapon?”

“The person who killed the person.” Wanda insisted.

The ex-assassin shrugged. “Then how is that any different?” Bucky just hoped Tony was good with him after being apart for a month. Time to cool off and think everything through.

“Because it’s Stark!” Wanda snapped. “He’s done terrible, terrible things!”

“I’ve directly killed hundreds of people…” Bucky trailed off.

A voice piped up. “That wasn’t you though, Bucky.”

Bucky and Wanda whipped their heads around to see Steve and Sam walking up to them.

Bucky tensed. “It was my hand. Stark has only indirectly killed people. Sure, those weapons had Stark Industries, but he said he doesn’t like to make weapons for people now. Not even you guys, he had to give you weapons but made them so they weren’t as dangerous as they would be.”

He knew that he was fighting a losing battle. They were all set on Tony being the bad guy in this scenario. Bucky was the bad guy, but Wanda was worse. She willingly joined Hydra while he was forced into being their worker dog.

Steve shook his head. “Bucky, his past can’t be forgotten.”

Bucky leaped to his feet and pointed at Wanda. “She made all of you see your worst nightmares! She willingly joined Hydra! She was with Ultron until she realised that he would kill her and her brother as well! She destroyed Stark’s home because she couldn’t handle being treated like a child even though she was acting as one.” He tried to control his breathing. “She killed people, on purpose, and she wasn’t being mind-controlled. She still wants to kill the person who was trying to get her an American citizenship and trying to figure out a way to pardon her for her crimes with Hydra!”

Sam and Steve stepped forward when Wanda narrowed her eyes at him.

Steve opened his mouth. “Bucky…”

“You kept it a secret, Steve.” Bucky growled. “You won’t even tell them what happened in Siberia. You made it seem like Stark was entirely in the wrong. If anything, you are the one in the wrong.”

He shoved past his old friend and stormed back towards the building. Bucky had to get away from everyone here. Shuri and T’Challa were the only ones he remotely liked. While Shuri was a little rude, she apparently was getting better as he heard from Queen Mother Ramonda.

A teenager by the name of Peter Parker was helping her see the wrongs in her words.

Bucky froze, his head turned to see a figure in the shadows. Body tensing, his eyes narrowing as he slowly approached the person.

Bright blue eyes stared back at him before vanishing into the shadows.

A few moments later, Bucky shook himself out of his stupor before running into the forest. Looking around, Bucky could see no trails of the person that was just there. Taking a deep breath, eyes blinking, Bucky couldn’t even hear anything strange or out of the ordinary.

Biting his lip, the soldier stepped backwards.

He had a bad feeling about that person. Especially since they couldn’t be noticed or followed.

Why did Bucky feel as though Hydra was involved?


	19. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AKA, the chapter where Peter and Loki prove they can be little shits, Thor is awkward, Ned is excitable, Tony is exasperated, Karen and Bruce are worry warts, and Stephen is calculating (in a nice sense).
> 
> Also Cosmic Entities show up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the previous chapters are getting updated, everyday so the next chapter will not be uploaded until that happens - and I will also be working on finishing off all the way until Chapter 30 before I upload the next chapter.

Peter is walking into his room, throwing his bag onto his bed with a huff. It was another really long day at school, and the finals are coming up for the decathlon team. Michelle had been dragging all the team down, while helping the newer members pick up to where everyone else was but remaining at a lower level for the mean time.

Karen had taken flight, and Peter was pretty sure that she had gone back to Tony and Pepper. He tried to act upset with her remaining with them, but he wasn’t. Thankfully Karen had begun to like them, and in turn they trusted her.

Karen might’ve been a bit rash and sassy, but she was extremely trustworthy and loyal when you prove yourself.

The Wakandans had gone home, and Ned had begun to tease Peter about missing his crush. Peter was still denying his feelings towards Shuri.

Ned, Karen and May weren’t buying his shit. Understandably though. He wouldn’t either.

Stretching, Peter noticed the six stones that he had collected when he was five. They were still sitting in a clear box and shone in any light.

The stones had been discovered by Peter when he was down at the beach with Mary and Richard. He had noticed them shining in the sand and had picked them up, to the point where he had decided to keep them.

Peter opened the box and picked up the purple stone.

Looking at them now, Peter swore they looked like the Infinity Stones. They didn’t give off the same feeling, but the teenager twirled the stone within his fingers. Glistening in the light of his room, Peter tilted his head, studying the different bands of purple that coated the stone.

“Peter! I’m leaving for work now! You should make your own dinner tonight, so no going out, please!” May called.

“Okay!” Peter yelled back, hand curling around the purple stone protectively.

Regardless, they were some of the few things that Peter had that reminded him of his adoptive parents. Closing his eyes, Peter lifted the stone and brushed his lips across it.

It felt warm to the touch. Just like how he found them all those years ago.

They never changed, even when everything else around them did change.

 

Eyes narrowed, looking into Peter’s room. The figure hung on a balcony, her hand curling around the top bar. She noticed and heard another figure walking up to her side, joining her at the railing.

“Infinity…” The figure spoke, the voice was masculine.

“Eternity, don’t. I will speak to him soon, brother.” Infinity ignored her brother despite the irritated look that she received from him. “I promise.”

Eternity shook his head. “We are the Cosmic Entities, we can’t interfere.”

“Say that to your son.” Infinity shot back, fully turning around to narrow her eyes in accusation.

Her older brother raised his hands. “Sister, Entropy is the being of destruction…”

Infinity rolled her eyes. “Regardless, let’s go. I hate being vulnerable to being noticed by mortals.”

“Then why are we here?” Eternity asked, but he got no reply as his sister seemed to vanish from normal sight, but he could still see her.

The oldest entity sighed, his sister could be so stubborn.

No wonder it got out that Terrans were stubborn, they love life too much, and even on their deathbeds they will still fight to remain alive.

Eternity had to praise them for their courage and belief that no matter how rough times get they still continue on. Even if they wanted to end it, they don’t and keep waiting for another day. Soon enough, some of them realise it has been years and they are still surviving.

Infinity loved Terrans, and they loved her back even if they weren’t aware of it.

 

Ned leaned towards Loki. “So, what was Asgard like?”

“Why do you want to know?” Loki asked, refusing to look up from one of the ancient texts that Wong had.

Wong had decided to give Thor, Loki, Bruce and Peter access to ancient texts, so they could understand what humans had collected. It included the Infinity Stones and all mythologies.

“Anything, something that stands out.” Ned pressed, leaning back once more to slightly rest against Peter who had Karen curled up in his lap. “It was your home for over a thousand years, certainly you must have a lot to talk about.”

Peter raised an eyebrow, and Karen quipped in. “From what I’ve gathered, speaking about something you miss makes you move on faster when you talk about the happy memories.” At Bruce’s look, Karen added. “I’m AI, I have the whole human knowledge at my disposal…Well most of it.”

Her tail made a flicking gesture towards the text that Peter was reading. “I will go over these texts to be able to refer to them on a later date. Not right now.”

Wong placed a text in front of her. At Stephen’s raised eyebrow, Wong shrugged. “She’s an AI on our side. Certainly, it could backfire on us, but I trust Parker.”

Ned nodded. “So, Mister Loki…”

“Piss of, child.” Loki growled.

Thor shook his head. “Brother, please.”

Heimdall sat beside Ned. “Why don’t I tell you about the nine realms? If you have any questions I will answer patiently.”

“Wait really?! You’ll do that?” Ned asked, his voice raising in his excitement.

Peter flinched away from the high pitch that his friend subconsciously used. Karen shifted on his lap and flicked through the pages of the text in front of her. The books looked old, but she could decode them quite easily.

“So…What are the nine realms exactly?” Ned asked.

“They are the nine planets that reside under Asgard’s rule.” Heimdall began. “They include Asgard, Earth – or as well call it Midgard-, Jotunheim, Svartalfheim, Vanaheim, Nidavellir, Niflheim, Muspelheim, and Alfheim. Sadly, with Asgard’s fall, we don’t know how the other planets are going right now. If we vanish one day you will know we are checking on everyone else.”

Heimdall looked over at Thor who looked panicked. “Certainly, you remember that, your majesty?” The tone was light and teasing, obviously Heimdall was not expecting Thor to remember.

Thor let out a squawk and then Loki poked him in the gut and pushed him backwards. His arms flailed as he screeched and landed on his back, papers flying up into the air around him. Bruce and Wong both out exclamations of annoyance as they both tries to salvage the texts.

Wong cried out. “Those are my texts, you dolt!”

Thor spluttered, and Loki could only cackle at his brother’s situation.

Stephen rolled his eyes as he walked out of the room with Valkyrie. Peter heard them mutter “royalty” and “idiots” to each other.

Peter and Ned only shared a look.

Karen sounded partially annoyed. “I am surrounded by idiots.”

Stephen poked his head back into the room. “Peter, can you come with me please?”

Peter clambered up to his feet when Heimdall turned back to Ned to explain to him about the Nine Realms. Karen screeched as she landed on the floor with a loud thud.

“Sorry, girl.” Peter stroked her back, even with her disapproving glare. “I should’ve warned you.”

“Yes, you should’ve.” Karen snorted, tail flicking from side to side.

Karen picked up the text in her mouth as she followed Peter and Stephen to the magic room.

“Stephen? What is it?” Peter asked, as he stood in the middle of the room as Karen made herself comfy on a chair. Opening the book back to where she was previously, she seemed to drown out everything else around her once more.

“I want to see how well you’ve progressed with creating a portal.” Stephen said, facing the teenager.

Peter froze. “But, Loki hasn’t taught me how to create portals…”

Stephen shrugged. “That shouldn’t be an issue for you though, you learn quickly. You don’t need to create a proper portal. You know what you need to do to achieve it, I’ve gone over this with you.”

“I know.” Peter whispered, sounding very disappointed in himself.

Stephen waved his hand. “Come on, show me.”

Peter closed his eyes as he imagined a location, the mountains…but where? No, not a mountain. A jungle maybe. Which one though? There were many. The Amazon, that sounded good, but Peter recalled he had to have been there previously.

That was what Loki said anyway, he had to focus on a location he’s been to, or he can try and locate the aura of someone he knows.

Head tilted, a smirk spread across Peter’s face. It was close, and it would definitely be a surprise.

 

Tony was seated at his desk, working on a blueprint for the new Quinjet. He groaned, rubbing his hands down his face as everything began to swim in his vision.

Maybe he should go to sleep.

A crack of an unknown source caused him to jump but before he could turn his head he heard Peter Parker’s unforgettable yell.

“What’s up?!”

Tony swore that kid was going to be the death of him one of these days.

 

Ned collapsed on a chair beside Karen, causing the AI to lift her head and look at him with eyes that indicated annoyance at him just showing up without a proper greeting. She noticed the text in his hands and concluded that Wong was forcing him to read it to keep him quiet.

Karen knew that would last up until Ned finished the text.

Ned groaned. “Why are these books so thick?”

The cat rolled her eyes. “Because they hold a lot of information, you know this, Ned.”

The human raised his head to watch Stephen and Peter facing off against each other on the floor. Karen flicked her tail, copying his gaze. While she knew Stephen wouldn’t want to harm Peter, she also knew that harm had to come to people for them to get better.

Also, Peter had the terrible habit of trying to get himself into danger and hurt along the way.

Stephen threw his hand out, magic surrounded the air, and made Ned shiver from the sheer power of it all. Peter might’ve been expecting it, but it didn’t change the fact that he fell to the floor.

Most likely the spell was conjured to knock Peter off his feet. It probably even ruined Peter’s reliability on his feet sticking to the ground when he needs it to. Peter groaned, as he tried to clamber up to his feet, but the magic was more or less keeping him to the ground.

Karen growled, but Wong shook his head from the doorway, she reluctantly calmed down, tail flicking as she stared at her boss and the sorcerer.

“Come on, Parker. Prove your worth, or you can stay there on the ground.” Stephen said, sounding extremely bored with Peter.

Karen wanted to claw his face off but knew better than to interfere with magic. She wasn’t willing to test the thought of her turning out to be like Ultron. Look, she knew better.

“I forfeit.” Peter gasped out, his voice sounded strained as though it took a lot of effort to get those two simple words out.

The magic lessened, and Peter scrambled to his feet, stumbling towards Ned and Karen before falling onto the couch. Ned quickly sat beside his best friend and asked if he was alright, to which Peter had replied that he was.

Karen didn’t believe him, and neither did Ned, but they didn’t press.

Wong looked at Stephen. “Have you informed them about the Infinity Stones?”

“They never asked.” Stephen shrugged, turning around to walk out the room.

Heimdall and Thor, who had come into the room shortly after Peter collapsed on the couch, glanced at each other.

“Heimdall and I can talk to them about the Infinity Stones.” Thor explained.

Bruce walked up beside the two Asgardians. “Good, I want to hear this discussion.”  
Peter and Ned made room for the scientist and managed to contain their fanboy-ness. Unlike the first couple of times, which still brought a smile to Karen’s face and groans of embarrassment from both Ned and Peter.

Wong and Stephen left the room, discussing whether leaving Loki alone is a good idea. But Valkyrie was with him or she was getting drunk at a club somewhere. That or she had met with a certain Dora Milaje, after she saw her when she and Thor were meeting up with Peter.

Karen feared what would happen if Okoye and Valkyrie were alone in a room together.

They would probably take over the world in less than an hour.

Warrior women are terrifying.

 

Thor relaxed on a chair and tilted his head to the side. “So, what is it that the two of you want to know?”

“What is the most powerful of the stones?” Ned asked, leaning forward with eagerness in his eyes.

“The Soul Stone.” Heimdall replied.

Ned, Peter and Bruce looked at each other in confusion.

“How?” Peter asked, head tilted making him look much younger than he actually is.

Thor took a deep breath. “The soul stone is able to kill anyone or bring them back to life. It is able to bend the laws of life and death.”

Peter shifted, looking at his hands. “So Thanos…”

“Wants to kill half of the universe.” Thor nodded. “With the soul stone, he is capable of doing just that.”

Ned raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said that no-one knows where the soul stone is.”

“No-one does.” Heimdall agreed. “The space, time and mind stones are here, the reality and power stones are off on two separate planets under great guard and protection. The soul stone is elusive, because anyone could have it and not know it.”

Bruce nodded slowly. “Don’t worry, you two.” He turned to Ned and Peter. “We can keep an eye on three of the most powerful stones, and that is half. If Thanos doesn’t show up tomorrow, we’ll be fine.”

“Famous last words.” Karen muttered.

 

Tony huffed, as he rubbed his eyes, and noticed Harley looking awkward in the doorway.

“Harley, spit it out.” Tony grumbled.

Harley shifted on his feet. “Can I scrap my idea?”

Tony blinked, confusing filling his body. “What?”

“My idea. Can I scrap it?” Harley asked, lifting his head to look at Tony in the eye. “It’s just…Peter made me realise my idea was absolutely stupid. Along with Tina…”

“Harley…” Tony started.

“No!” Harley yelled, stepping back. “I’m not even a proper intern. I shouldn’t be doing this, and I only wanted to do it because I thought it would be helpful.”

He lowered his head. “It’s only gotten worse though.” Harley shook his head. “The design, it’s more trouble than it’s worth.”

Tony looked upset but nodded slowly. “Okay, we can scrap it…But are you alright?”

Harley nodded. “I mean, I’m going to ask Peter if I can help him with his hoverboard design.” Biting his lip, the teen looked awkward. “I hope he lets me help him.”

“Peter and you are very similar.” Tony said. “I know Peter, not that well, but he’s a nice kid and he’ll let you help.”

“He hates getting help though, that’s why he doesn’t want Princess Shuri helping him with Vibranium if he ever decides to use it.” Harley explained. “The chances of him letting me help is slim to none.”

Tony placed a hand on Harley’s shoulder. “Don’t say that. Look, if it helps, the holidays are coming up, aren’t they? We can ask Peter if he wants to come around, if that doesn’t make you uncomfortable.”

Harley perked up. “Really? Well, let me ask him myself. You know, so he knows I’m okay with it.”

The billionaire nodded. “Sounds good, just tell him his answer.”

 

Tina nudged Peter’s back with her foot. “Oi, stop it.”

“What am I doing?” Peter spluttered, eyes narrowing at her.

“Denying your feelings towards a certain princess.” Tina replied instantly.

Peter groaned. “Will you drop it please?”

“Nope.” Tina grinned, her eyes sparkling in mirth. “Ya know, my cousin said he once knew a Peter Parker.”

Peter raised an eyebrow but turned back his hoverboard. “Good for him.”

“Seriously, you might know him. His name is Wade.” Tina continued.

“I don’t know any Wade’s.” Peter shrugged.

Tina pursed her lips before nudging Peter with her foot again. “Come on, nothing sticking to you?”

Peter paused. “What?”

Tina grinned widely at his worried expression. “I can keep a secret, Spider. My cousin can’t keep his mouth shut, he tends to show up unexplained after all.”

Peter looked highly uncomfortable.

His saving grace was Harley.

Tina hummed. Harley would be Peter’s saving grace a few more times. Hopefully Peter and Harley learn to care for each other by the end of it all.

“Hey, Peter. I was wondering if I could help you test your hoverboard.” Harley spoke, voice unusually soft.

“Don’t you have your own creation to work on?” Peter questioned, turning to face him.

“I scraped it.” Harley explained. “I wanted to help you, I mean…You don’t need to accept my help…If you did then you can come to the Avengers Compound.” He began to stammer and speak quickly. “Like I said, you don’t need my help, I’m just offering as like a fresh pair of eyes on the design.”

The female watched with interest.

A couple of beats of silence occurred before Peter spoke up. “Sure. It will be helpful for me.” His eyes seemed to light up. “You can tell Mr Stark that I don’t mind.”

Harley grinned. “Really? Thank you!” He blushed. “I mean…”

Peter waved his hand. “I know what you mean.”

Tina’s phone rang, and she answered it while watching Harley almost walk off with a happy step to his step.

“Hello?”

“I fucked up!” Her cousin’s voice echoed around her head.

Tina ran a hand down her face. “When do you not fuck up?”

He wailed loudly. “I got shot!”

“You’ll heal. You can’t die.” Tina responded before hanging up.

She grinned and she could almost hear him cursing her out.

The six stones glinted in the silver surroundings.

Infinity sighed, glancing at Eternity, Entropy and Death who were talking about something that Infinity tuned out ages ago.

She hoped that the stones would choose quickly. The physical stones were no match to the power within that could only be contained by a proper vessel.

That would be Thanos' downfall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you ask no, Wade Wilson is not going to be a character in the story, he is solely Tina's cousin who she often references and explains that they both have the same powers to a degree (but she only has the same fourth-wall breaking abilities).


	20. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter, Harley and Tony interact, and Peter meets a certain Cosmic Entity and a Wakandan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last written out chapter, so the next one may come out next week or later once I get up to chapter 30. So this chapter is a little longer.
> 
> Also, Infinity War has come out in my country, so I'm staying off of AO3 as much as I can (I will still reply to comments and update the filler scenes story though, so don't worry). I just want to avoid spoilers until Monday.

Peter shifted as he stretched, his back popping. Karen blinked lazily at him.

“Gah, this…Is so annoying.” Peter grumbled, almost collapsing but a sharp jab from Marcus made him alert once more.

Peter shot Marcus an annoyed look, but the young adult only looked smug. Sometimes the younger wanted to wipe that look off his face but couldn’t.

He’d already gotten into enough trouble with violence.

Harley sat beside Peter, legs tucked up to his chest. “You should reroute the blue wire. Maybe that would make the whole thing use less power.”

Peter hummed. “Maybe, let’s try it.”

Peter and Harley moved the blue wire around a bit before Peter heard a nice click as the entire hoverboard let out a low hum. Harley cheered, and put his hand out for a fist bump. An awkward pause emitted, before Peter met him in the middle, which made Harley even happier.

The older could literally feel Harley’s happiness, and it even made Peter smile as he let the emotions wash over his very being.

“Thank you.” Peter said. “That has probably made this entire thing less painful.”

Harley grinned. “I’m glad I could help.”

“So…when should I come over to the compound?” Peter asked.

“During the holidays, not sure when though. Probably near the end of it all.” Harley said, closing the cover of the wiring section of the hoverboard and turning it off. “Tony said we may be going to a fair during the break, to get us to relax.”

“Sounds good.” Peter nodded. He glanced at Harley who looked very worried and uncertain. “Harley?”

Harley jumped and looked down at the ground. “Sorry, I spaced out. I am just worried.”

“About what?” Pushing the hoverboard away from them, Peter made himself comfortable to look at Harley.

“I’m not an intern. If that gets out everyone is going to assume I’m heir.” Harley explained.

Something tugged at Peter’s heart, but he ignored it. “Look, Harley. You are smart, in a business sense. You know what to do when it comes to businesses, and you have a greater understanding of it than the people at school who are doing business.” His words felt like poison to him, but Peter decided they had to be said.

The younger looked hopeful. “You really think I’d be able to be heir?”

Peter shrugged. “I’d say give it a chance, not outright saying you are heir, but you know…Giving it a go, see how well you actually cope with it.”

“Can you help in that case?” Harley asked, voice meek. “You know what Tony and Pepper do, more than me at least.”

“I can try my best.” Peter responded. “I’m not business savvy, so I’d probably suck at being a teacher.”

Harley could only smile. “Well, at least you’ll attempt to help me.”

Karen stretched out lazily on the desk, watching the two boys. She almost purred at their interactions, even if it was only evident at Stark Industries.

Tony’s voice echoed around the room. “Peter, can you come here for a moment?”

When Peter walked past Tina, she raised a single eyebrow at him, as if expecting him to trip and stumble, spilling out all of his secrets.

Tina hissed quietly to him. “Don’t fuck up, Parker. Your secrets may save your life, but they may also try to kill you.”

Peter felt his blood fade from the top of his skin, his veins felt tight and restricting closer to his muscles. His entire body tensed.

Why was Tina being creepy? He didn’t even want to think about what she meant.

He had a feeling that her words were going to come back to bite him in the ass.

Tony sat at a desk, eyes flicking up to Peter who had paused in front of him. “Take a seat, Peter.”

Peter paused, staring at the chair, and he picked up the chair. “Okay.”

“Peter, put it down, and sit down.” Tony ordered, running a hand down his face trying to desperately ignore the shit-eating grin Peter had on his own face. “Sit down on the chair, please.”

Peter huffed out a laugh. “Kill joy.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “I wanted to know if you are truly okay with coming to the compound on the holidays.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Peter asked.

“Well, just so you know. Everything you see there is confidential, alright? No telling anyone.” Tony instructed.

“What kind of teenager do you think I am?” Peter asked, leaning back slightly. At Tony’s look, Peter added. “Okay, okay. I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

Except Thor and Bruce, but Peter wondered how Tony would feel knowing that his two friends were once again on Earth. Let alone not actively seeking him out.

Not that they didn’t want to. Thor and Bruce longed to speak to Tony, to tell him what was going on.

It’s just that they didn’t trust themselves to not let it slip that Peter is Zayden and Spiderman.

Tony sighed. “I know I can trust you, kid. I just needed to make sure, that’s all.”

“I understand.” Peter said, and he did understand. 

“Look, if you are going to be coming over, Pepper and I will need permission to use your personal number, in case you are lost, or we have to find you and we don’t know who you are with.” Tony explained.

Peter frowned. “Don’t you have my number, like with all interns?”

Tony nodded. “Yes, but we want permission before we use them, especially if you are under eighteen. Which you are.”

“Yeah, you can use it.” Peter said, looking back at Harley and Karen who were getting into a heated discussion about Star Trek. For some reason.

Tony hummed in acknowledgement. “Anything about you that we should be made aware of?”

Peter thought about it for a moment. “Well, I’m sensitive to light and noise, and I can’t have garlic. Also, I can’t stand sprays of most kinds.”

“Asthmatic?” Tony asked, curious as he typed away to inform Pepper.

Peter recognised the email address.

“Not really, I’m allergic to what is in bug sprays.” Peter replied, sounding uneasy and trailing off at the end of his statement.

Well, it also had to do with the fact that Peter’s spider DNA reacted violently when around a room that has been recently sprayed. Bruce discovered that it could kill him, and immediately Peter recoiled and did everything he could to stay away from bug spray without making it too obvious.

Tony finished typing and looked at him. “Anything else?”

Peter narrowed his eyes. “You want to get to know me, don’t you?”

“Nightmares, uneasy sleep?” Tony continued, ignoring Peter’s statement which proved he had hit the nail of the head.

“Nightmares.” Peter agreed. “I am a really light sleeper.”

Tony blinked. “Nightmares? About what?”

Peter spoke before he could stop himself. “My uncle died right in front of me.”

Tony looked up at Peter with a look of pain and concern. Peter felt uneasiness gnaw at his body, and Tony’s sad look of pity and understanding didn’t make him feel any better.

Thankfully he didn’t say that he sometimes still saw Rhodey falling to the ground, except he never survived in those nightmares, or seeing Obadiah’s smirking face killing Mary and Richard. Sometimes Red Skull, and recently Thanos made appearances in his nightmares. The Vulture and the plane crash, along with the building being dropped on top of him.

Those would be much harder to explain.

Or the worst. Hearing Tony and Pepper singing him lullabies before their voices turned into screams and laughter echoed around the empty space before Peter woke up.

Those nightmares were also some of the worst.

Peter stood up. “Look, I have to make sure Harley and Karen don’t try to kill each other. I don’t think Harley can argue with an AI.”

Tony only watched Peter walk off.

Both males felt a sense of dread and longing fill them.

While it confused Tony, Peter refused to act on it.

He couldn’t lose another parental figure. They solely had a professional relationship.

Tony wasn’t his father.

Even his thoughts didn’t sound convinced.

 

Rhodey leant on the railing of the balcony as he watched the interns leaving for home. He saw Peter and Karen walk slowly away from the building, apparently the storm clouds didn’t seem to affect the pair.

The solider took a deep breath, the scent of rain was heavy on the air.

It reminded him of Thor.

Thor, man that was someone who he hadn’t seen or thought of for a while.

He wasn’t close with the Asgardian per say, but they got along when they did see each other. They were both close with Tony and did everything they could to drag him from his lab. Also, they were two of the only people who put up with Tony and his ramblings.

Thor said it reminded him of his brother when they were younger.

Apparently, Tony and Loki were more similar than Thor had previously expected, both were leaders in their own way and extremely intelligent. Also, both are highly ambitious but are protective – Thor mentioned Loki is first and foremost a prince, the protectiveness of his people will always remain ingrained into Loki’s being.

Rhodey could see how that worked, even if he wasn’t royal.

Peter looked up at the clouds, before looking back to see Rhodey staring down at him. The teen waved his hand in greeting, to which Rhodey waved back.

He had to be Zayden.

Now he just needed to interrogate him on that.

Maybe he was over analysing everything, but he looked too much like Pepper and Tony for it be just a coincidence.

 

Karen perched on Peter’s shoulder. “Don’t be so bitter.”

“I’m not bitter.” Peter protested, but Karen flicked him with the tip of her tail. “Look, they aren’t my parents, okay, Karen. It’s a business relationship.”

“You want them to be your parents.”

“No, I don’t.” Peter argued, looking across the street before he crossed.

Karen huffed. “Yes, you do. Don’t deny it.”

Karen leaped from his shoulder and shot him a look over her shoulder. “Why do teenagers constantly deny their thoughts and feelings?”

Peter narrowed his eyes. “There is a difference between wanting them as my parents and wanting them to know I am their son.”

“How?” Karen sounded confused.

It reminded Peter that Karen was still young and only an AI. She could only comprehend so much emotion or thoughts that she couldn’t readily access from the internet. Karen didn’t understand why people did things that they did based on emotions or thoughts, nor why people had different world views and beliefs.

A sigh escaped her creator’s lips. “I don’t need them as parents. I have May, and that’s all I need.”

Tears pricked at the back of Peter’s eyes as he walked up the stairs to his and May’s apartment. “She’s my mother in almost all sense of the word. She raised me when Mary was away, and still takes care of me without Ben here.”

Karen didn’t even bother commenting on Peter’s love for his aunt. Anyone with any brain cells would know that Peter loves his aunt like a son would love their mother.

The door clicked open and May walked towards the entrance, a look of confusion on her face.

“Peter, honey, what is it?”

He couldn’t prevent it, and suddenly tears fell from Peter’s eyes. They trailed down his cheeks, and he could smell the tang of the salt in the air. He hiccupped as he leaned towards May, who readily welcomed him into her embrace. She ran fingers through his hair and said nothing, sensing that no words she said would help Peter in this state.

A kiss was pressed to his hair as Peter buried his face into her shoulder. His arms came up to curl around her.

He couldn’t lose her.

She might be his aunt, but she was his mother.

Peter mumbled. “I can’t lose you, mum. I don’t know what I’m going to do about Tony and Pepper.”

May whispered softly, her fingers in his hair sent a soothing sensation through Peter’s body. “You are intelligent, sweetie. You will figure out what to do.”

Peter hoped she was right. Even though it felt like he had no idea what to do.

 

The darkness cleared up and Peter found himself in a silver misty landscape. He knew he was dreaming, as he saw his body sleeping on his bed, body stretched out as Karen (as a cat still) curled up next to his chest. Her head was resting on his arm, and he could still feel the purr that Karen had managed to perfect run through his bones.

The silver landscape gained faint colours, ranging from red to purple crossing the whole spectrum. Power flooded him, but Peter was capable of holding himself upright, sensing it was similar to the power from the Infinity Stones. He sighed and felt his shoulders slumping in mild relief that he wasn't in any major trouble.

However...

His body tensed as he felt that he wasn’t alone.

“Hello, Peter Parker.” A sweet but tangy voice surrounded him. “I’m sorry for ruining your peaceful sleep.”

Peter looked around. “Who’s there? Show yourself!”

A figure took form in front of him. She had dark skin with lighter freckles splattered across her body. Long blonde hair fell in waves and curls down her back, and her eyes were a glittering bright blue. She was wearing a dress, that was black over a pair of fighting pants and boots, and a white cape seemed to flow off her shoulders.

She reminded him of the Asgardians. Was that intentional?”

“Who are you?” Peter hoped his voice didn’t crack like he thought it did.

Her aura radiated serenity but bitterness, peace and love, but hardship and fear. All in all, she was intimidating, even more so than Okoye and Valkyrie.

“I am Infinity, one of the four Cosmic Entities of the universe.” The being responded, waving her hand around. “However, I am not here to play twenty questions with you, Zayden Stark.”

Peter shifted. “Why am I here?”

Infinity took a deep breath. “I thought you were intelligent.”

“With things I know.” Peter shot back.

“Well, I am Infinity, I am also the very being of life.” She explained, walking in a circle around the confused teenager. “It is because of me that all of you are alive right now, the Avengers, the survivors of disasters. All of you are alive because I deemed you unworthy to die at earlier times.”

“Are you going to kill me now?”

“Oh no, I’m not Death. I can’t kill when I want, I keep living creatures alive, Zayden.”

Infinity snapped her fingers. “That is asking me questions!”

“I only asked two!” Peter exclaimed but yelped when Infinity materialised in front of his face.

Her soft features took on a hard tone. Everything that made her approachable now had sharpened and roughened up to make her look threatening.

Okay, it was a weird way to symbolise life – the way it seemed soft and easy but is a ruthless thing when pushed in that direction. Now that he thought about it, it was the perfect way to symbolise life.

“You still asked questions, child.” Infinity hissed.

She stood up and patted her dress down even though there were no wrinkles. “You should meet her, and you’ll realise who I am talking about soon enough, Zayden.”

Peter opened his mouth, but the Cosmic Entity had faded from sight. He was left alone, and his breath hitched as a sense of fear began to form in his blood.

Who could Infinity be talking about?

“Peter Parker?”

Peter whipped his head around to see someone he wasn’t expecting to see at all.

“Nakia?”

Nakia walked forward, looking very confused. “Infinity said I was meant to be seeing Spiderman…”

“She wasn’t wrong.” Peter quickly stated before he shut his mouth and covered it with one of his hands.

Nakia studied him, head tilted to the head before she let out a laugh. “I’m a spy, and I didn’t put two and two together? I can excuse T’Challa, because he is him, I’m not sure if I can excuse Shuri and Tony Stark, however.”

“No-one knows, Nakia…” Peter trailed off, looking down at the misty landscape below his feet as he scuffed his shoes.

“I can keep a secret, little spider.” Nakia laughed. “I think I know why Infinity wanted us to meet though.”

Peter raised an eyebrow, prompting her to continue talking.

“We are looking out for the little people that get overlooked by those more powerful.” Nakia explained, as she beckoned Peter to follow her as they trekked across the fields. “I help women and children, even males, escape from situations that they are forced into when they shouldn’t be there in the first place.”

The Wakanda looked back at the teenager that was stumbling over his own feet to keep up with her but remain behind her out of politeness. He knew his spot after all.

“You help out with the little people of New York City, so much so that the people love and admire you to the point where they feel safe when they see you.” Nakia smiled. “I’ve seen it actually, that parents will turn their attention from their children if they notice you nearby.”

Peter blushed, feeling embarrassed by her praising him of his accomplishments, even though it pales in comparison to what Nakia has done. Well, he thought it did anyway.

“I like helping out.” Peter mumbled. “It makes me feel better knowing that I’ve helped someone out.”

Nakia nodded. “I understand that, I get the same way on my own missions.”

The adult stopped and looked down at where she had fazed out of focus on what T’Challa was saying to her. Peter kept a distance, so he didn’t see it, nor her expressions. T’Challa would be so pissed if he found out that he wasn’t paying attention again.

“I trust you, Spiderman. I will keep your secret.” Nakia said with a nod. “But, I think it’s time we return to the land of the awake.”

Peter felt himself fade away as Nakia did as well.

He jerked awake, eyes blinking wide as he stared at his ceiling. Karen shifted, her purring almost lulling him back to sleep

I trust you, Nakia. Peter thought as he closed his eyes and let himself go back to sleep with Karen’s purr as background noise that blocked out everything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I alone in the whole Peter Parker and Nakia friendship?
> 
> Like, is anybody else out there that likes these two as friends or a sibling relationship?? They both help out the little people, and will do it regardless of what others say (Nakia and T'Challa, and Peter ignoring Tony to assist others).
> 
> I will go down with this friendship


	21. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter (some angst but believe me - the next chapter is fluffier and may be uploaded tomorrow if I get it done)
> 
> Group projects are a pain so I'll see
> 
> But anyway some teenage fluff and team bonding over ice cream, a bit of chaos involving Harley and Peter, Peter and Thor chatting, and then Rhodey.
> 
> More Tina because of course)

Peter adjusted his bad strap as he listened to Cindy and Abe arguing about the best flavour of ice cream. He had no idea why there was a huge debate on whether honey or mint was better. Peter liked mint, unless he was sick and then he would rather like honey. Mint was a deterrent for spiders after all.

MJ nudged Peter with her arm. “You alright, Parker?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, MJ.” Peter cracked a grin towards his leader.

MJ looked behind her to call out to Flash and Harley. “You two coming with us to get ice-cream.”

Flash snorted. “No way. My parents would be shocked to hear I’ve been hanging around with losers.”

Harley shifted before walking towards them. “Sure! I’ll come along.”

Harley nudged Peter’s shoulder as Ned stood on the other side of him. Ned blinked. “So, what is your favourite flavour of ice-cream?”

“What ice-cream choices are there at the place we are going?” Harley asked.

Peter and MJ saw Flash glaring at them and shared a look.

Ned rolled his eyes. “Come on, man.”

“Cherry.” Harley nodded. “It’s great.”

Ned gasped. “Cherry?! How?!”

“It’s good, okay.” Harley blushed, looking embarrassed.

MJ scowled. “Does Flash forget that we are smarter than him?”

“His ego is wounded.” Peter explained with a shrug. “He can’t stand it.”

MJ looked annoyed, eyes narrowing at Flash who stormed off to his new car. “I wish he didn’t get a new car. Spiderman wrecked his last one, and he just goes around and gets a new one a week later. Talk about showing off your money.”

“Hey, Peter!” Harley called out. “What is your favourite flavour of ice cream?”

Peter hesitated. “I would probably say cookie dough.”

MJ nodded. “Good choice.”

Harley fell into step with Peter and Ned. As Sally, Abe and Cindy became very vocal about the best ice cream flavours. MJ only groaned and walked up to them, probably only going to serve as a catalyst and make the argument last longer.

The youngest of the three raised an eyebrow as a slow smirk crossed his face. “Hey, Ned? Do you know about Peter’s crush on Princess Shuri?”

Peter paused as Ned grinned brightly. “Oh, man. Do I ever know about his crush!”

“Ned!” Peter hissed, his face flushed.

Harley almost cooed. “Have you ever seen this guy around her?”

“Nope.”

“Guys.”

“He is so infatuated!” Harley cackled as Peter launched himself at him.

Harley dodged his arms, even though Peter could reach him if he truly wanted to. But he didn’t. He did promise Tony that he wouldn’t get into any physical fights with Harley.

MJ looked back at them. “Hey! We are here!”

“Woo!” Ned cheered as he lightly shoved Harley and Peter in front of him. “Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice cream!”

The team of teenagers ordered their ice cream before settling in a booth.

“So…” Cindy started. “How is it like being interns at Stark Industries?”

Peter and Harley shared a look.

“It’s nice…” Peter started.

Harley butted in. “Yeah, but I’m sure Tony would argue that it’s not nice with us!”

The rest of the group looked highly confused by Harley’s words.

Harley grinned as Peter groaned. “Let’s say that we aren’t allowed near any of the old Iron Man suits with a hoverboard.”

“What did you do?” Ned asked, looking at Peter with fake utter betrayal that he hadn’t heard about this incident.

“Long story.” Peter protested, not wanting to relive the moment.

Harley seemed all too happy to continue the story.

“Well…” Harley began, hands waving to emphasise the story.

 

Harley and Peter stared at the hoverboard as they quickly turned it on to test how much it worked. Peter was still set on not using Vibranium, and Harley didn’t even bother trying to hide his awe at Peter, even though it made Peter feel uneasy to a degree.

Peter flicked his hand as he stood up and moved away from the desk. “I think that is it. Do you think so?”

“Yep.” Harley nodded and turned the hoverboard on.

The machine began to levitate before it made a high pitch screeching noise that cause Peter and Harley to flinch. Suddenly, it began to move towards the wall, and Peter tugged Harley away in case the hoverboard decided to turn its attention to the defenceless human.

Sparks began to fly out of it.

“Oh, oh.” Harley whispered, and Pete felt his face pale.

Harley and Peter both jumped out of the way as the hoverboard screeched and slammed into the wall.

Harley yelped. “We have to stop it!”

“How, genius?!” Peter cried, waving his hands towards the malfunctioning hoverboard. “It’s malfunctioning and neither of us can grab it.”

“I’ll admit, I didn’t think that part through.” Harley rubbed the back of his neck.

Peter screeched. “I can tell!”

Both boys watched as the hoverboard smashed into one of the Iron Man suits. They shrieked as electricity shot out everywhere, barely missing the teenagers.

Peter gulped as they stared at the ruined lab. “We are fucked.”

“You can say that again.” Harley murmured, eyes wide as fear rolled off him in waves.

“We are fucked.” Peter repeated.

Harley paused before narrowing his eyes at Peter. A moment of silence lasted for a beat before they cracked up laughing.

“Peter! Harley!” They froze before turning around to look at Tony who was standing in the doorway. “What the fucked was going on?”

Peter and Harley looked apologetic at the very least.

“The hoverboard malfunctioned.” Harley explained.

Tony raised an eyebrow. “I can see that. Are the two of you going to clean it up?”

Peter and Harley nodded. “Of course, we will.”

Tony gave them both a stern look before he began to walk out of them room. Peter and Harley scrambled to their feet before rushing towards one of the doors. Tony froze before calling after them.

“Where are you two going?!”

“Out! We need to make another hoverboard.” Peter called back.

“You two said you’ll clean this mess.” Tony argued.

Peter shrugged before he and Harley smirked. “We did, but we never said when.”

Tony spluttered but the teenagers were out of the room before he could argue or say anything.

Tony rubbed his face. “God, give me strength and patience to deal with these two brats.”

 

“And that is the story.” Harley finished.

Abe blinked. “Wow, did you two clean it up?”

“Of course.” Peter said, shooting Harley a look. “We did, eventually but now we are banned from those labs.”

“For a while at least.” Harley said with a shrug, ignoring Peter’s eye roll.

 

Peter pulled his mask off his face as he sat on top of a roof and stared across the city. There wasn’t much crime in the city that night, so Peter felt it was okay to properly relax for once.

His hair stood on end as he waited for the very faint crackling of electricity to subside once Thor reached him.

He wondered what the king wanted with him, and Peter hoped it wasn’t him chastising him for continuing to do his patrols on a school night. Even though it wasn’t, Thor still valued a good rest for growing teenagers. After all, he constantly spoke about it to Peter and Ned whenever they hung around for a bit too long.

Thor sat down on the roof by Peter’s side.

“Good evening, young Parker.”

Thankfully Thor hadn’t called him ‘young Stark’ and stuck with Parker, obviously aware that Peter would rather be known by that last name. It was like with Loki wanting to be known as Odinson.

“Hello, Thor.”

Thor stretched slightly. “How are you tonight?”

“Meh, good.” Peter shrugged, leaning forward and continuing to gaze across the sleepless city. It was truly a wonder he managed to get to sleep at all.

“You don’t sound good.” Thor mimicked Peter’s position, making Peter roll his eyes.

Regardless, Peter was glad Thor was willing to talk to him and felt no issues with confiding in the Asgardian. Thor was someone who just seemed to be trustworthy, and Peter’s senses had always relaxed when the God of Thunder was around – as if he knew that Thor was a good protector and didn’t need to worry about himself as much. Thor worried about everyone as much as Tony did.

Peter lifted his head to stare at the smoke covered sky, and sadly he couldn’t see the stars. “I want to feel happy about Harley being Stark’s heir, but I can’t.”

Thor nodded solemnly. “I understand. As a Stark at birth you feel like it’s your right, but as you’ve gotten older you don’t feel as though it’s right for you.”

“It’s not!” Peter cried desperately, tugging at his hair. “I would be a terrible heir for Stark Industries anyway, I doubt I could handle that amount of stress!”

A hand rested on Peter’s shoulder, and he jerked to stare wide up at Thor. Thor smiled, and his eye twinkled with something that Peter couldn’t identify but felt as though it was pride and understanding. A certain warmth surrounded Peter as he leaned into the hand.

A scream ripped through the peaceful night, and Peter jumped to attention. He pulled the mask down over his face and was immediately met with Karen’s voice. He swung off the building, as Thor watched him vanish through the buildings.

“Boss, it’s a mugging gone wrong. Three attackers with guns and two victims, and one of them is a child. The teenager is probably his brother.”

Peter hummed in acknowledgement. “Plot course, Karen.”

“One step ahead of you, boss.”

 

Bruce huffed as he wiped the blood off of Peter’s arm. “You should really be more cautious of what kind of trouble you find yourself in, Peter.”

The teenager pursed his lips and glared at the wall. “So? At least the attackers didn’t get away and were caught by the police. The kids were taken home.”

“So? You also got shot twice!” Bruce almost screeched.

Valkyrie leaned against the door frame as she eyed them. “A true warrior.”

Bruce snapped without turning his head. “Do not attempt to persuade Peter into heading into more dangerous scenarios, Valkyrie.” He shot a look at the female warrior. “He is already so determined and set on helping others, there is no reason for you to try and justify it.”

“I won’t justify it.” Valkyrie argued. “I can just help him when Thor can’t in fighting.”

“I’m fine.” Peter argued. “I’m getting better.” 

It was true. He had gotten better at controlling his strength and had learnt to better use his instincts to his advantage in fights and make him more unpredictable in battle.

However, he had also gotten stronger in his magic use. Portals were easier, but anything else than that was more difficult for him to conjure up and keep for extended amounts of time.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. “You are still weak, and anyone with any battle skills could still overtake you. Especially if they are unable to take your full force. Which is most of the people you come across.”

Peter huffed and winced when Bruce pulled out the bullet that had become lodged in his arms.

“There. All done. Your healing will probably take care of this within the next two hours. Just try and keep your arm as still as possible.” Bruce explained, as though Peter hadn’t already heard this many, many times already.

Peter stretched as much as he could before opening his hand to focus on creating a ball of fire. His fingers curled slightly and soon flames danced across the tips of them. His eyes shifted from their normal dark hazel to a slight orange tint as the flames became brighter.

Valkyrie whistled lowly. “Impressive, but you should be heading home, little spider.”

Peter wanted to argue before a thought flickered across his mind. “So…? Like you and Thor don’t do hang out late at night?”

“What are you talking about?” Valkyrie hissed, eyes narrowing as she stepped towards the slightly wounded vigilante.

Peter nodded slowly, his lips curled up into a smirk. “Right. So how is Okoye? Don’t say I hadn’t seen you and Thor talk with her. I thought you were staying low.”

“We are.” Valkyrie said, sniffing in annoyance as Peter jumped to his feet to trail after her when she joined Bruce to help him sort out his medicine required for Peter. “It’s amazing what you can do when you act like you are entranced with someone or what they do. She does not expect anything more than us being mere Midgardians.”

Bruce shared a look with Peter before nodding slowly. Peter could only snicker. All Midgardians that the Asgardians have met are not what you would consider ‘normal and mere’ humans. But whatever, Peter wasn’t going to rain on her parade. 

 

Peter felt Tina’s gaze on him, and he stiffened before looking at her. “Yes, Tina?”

“Parker.” Tina only responded before turning back to her project.

The teenage male just shook his head as he began to build a Border Collie robot form for Karen. Tony walked over and greeted the two teenagers.

“Hello, Tina, Peter.”

Tina smiled before frowning as she looked around. “Hello, Mr Stark. Where is Harley?”

“Sick.” Tony responded, and he looked down at Peter and saw the robot. “Making a new form for Karen?”

Peter shrugged. “I’m curious and she said she wanted a new form. I’m not sure if I’ll keep it though, dogs are harder to keep discreet.”

“Does Karen even know the meaning of discreet?” Tina asked, raising a single eyebrow.

“Yes, but it’s not part of her name.”

“So, she has a silent ‘I’ in her name? for indiscreet?”

“Well, not exactly.”

“I’m trying to think of a good indiscreet pun with Karen’s name.”

“Your puns suck, Wilson.”

“My puns are awesome, Parker.”

Tony could only look at them in amusement.

“You two get along splendidly.”

Peter and Tina scowled at each other.

Tina stuck her tongue out. “Well, we would get along better if someone acknowledged my awesomeness.”

“What awesomeness?” Peter asked, looking shocked. “You mean your awesomeness levels that are in the negatives?”

“Bitch, you are just jealous.”

“What is there to be jealous of?”

Tony groaned and walked off with a wave of his hands. “I’m not dealing with the two of you at the moment. I feel my hair going gray from just being in the same vicinity as you two.”

Tina and Peter watched Tony walk off, and Peter shot Tina a confused look. “Okay, what is it that you want to talk about?”

“What makes you think there is something I want to talk about?” Tina asked innocently, as she looked down at her project and began working once more.

Peter pursed his lips. “Because you specifically turned the conversation to something that would make Mr Stark walk away from.”

Tina only tilted her head, but Peter could guess that her eyes were sparkling in mischief as they often were. “Well, I couldn’t discuss your secrets with him hovering around.”

“How do you even know those secrets?” Peter questioned, adjusting the wiring in one of the legs of the dog. “I’ve made sure to be so careful.”

“I know everything.” Tina said with a simple shrug as though it was the most obvious answer. Suddenly there was an obvious shift in her, and Peter could feel her unease and worry rolling off her. “It’s a curse, I know things that I shouldn’t…and I can’t change it at all.” She looked at him, and Peter swore her eyes looked like galaxies, swirling colours with dull sparkles that made him tense up. “I just hope you make the right choice, Peter.”

Normally Peter would’ve brushed off Tina’s words, but her words made him stiffen. He had a feeling that he should take her words into consideration.

He sighed and then screeched as sparks flew up into the air, making him jump back and Tina laugh at him. Chloe and Marcus rushed over to ask Peter if he was alright, to which he told them that he was, but he was still very shaken.

He wasn’t one to be superstitious, but he had a very bad feeling about everything that was going to happen in the future.

 

Peter shifted and walked into a room and rested against the door. He heard Friday distantly, she sounded as though she was speaking through jelly to him. He waved his hand and rubbed his temples, and Friday went silent, understanding that he didn’t need her voice making his head spin worse than it was.

His senses screamed at him, and that was why he was currently in a random room. He felt as though he was going to be interrogated but didn’t know when. Huffing, Peter left the room to go outside and get some fresh air.

Maybe that was all he needed.

Peter glanced at Rhodey who he almost ran into when he left the door. “Oh, sorry Colonel Rhodes.” Peter blushed at the fact he almost made a fool of himself in front of someone as great as James Rhodes.

He couldn’t believe that he was named after him, it was a great honour, even more now than it was before.

“Hello, Peter. I was actually going to look for you.” Rhodey smiled.

“Really? Why me?” Peter asked, wondering what he has done to earn Rhodes’ attention. He felt as though being sassy with Mr Stark might’ve been up there along with his AI. But that still felt odd.

Rhodes hummed. “I just wanted to ask and clarify some things with you.”

Peter suddenly felt as though it involved Harley. However, a small voice in his mind warned him that Rhodes was most likely talking about something else. It sounded suspiciously like Tina. “About Harley?”

They walked beside each other further from the building, and the silence that the elder had didn’t reassure Peter at all.

“No, about you. I’m curious about you.” Rhodes replied, stopping and taking a deep breath and still didn’t look at the younger.

“But why?” Peter demanded, before collecting himself. “I mean, I’m just me. There is nothing special about me.”

Rhodes turned to face Peter, his face contemplating everything. “Is that so, Zayden?”

Peter stiffened, body almost bristling. “Zayden? Sorry, sir. But you have the wrong person. My name is Peter, not Zayden.”

“You have the same lying skills as your father, Tony Stark.” Rhodey said, continuing to stare at Peter calculating every single movement he made.

However, he was probably not expecting Peter to react so violently. Peter narrowed his eyes. “Mr Stark is not my father, he is my boss, and nothing else. My name is Peter Parker, and I am not a Stark.” The end tone was almost a low hiss.

“Are you not Zayden Stark?” Rhodey asked, his voice low and soft. Obviously wounded and affected by Peter’s words.

Peter took a deep breath, before lifting his chin in defiance. “Once I was Zayden James Stark, but I am Peter Benjamin Parker. Nothing more, nothing less. Tony Stark and Pepper Potts are only my bosses, they are not my parents.”

“But,” Rhodey began to protest.

Peter stepped back and shook his head. “I know you don’t want to believe my words, but I’m telling you the truth. Who I was isn’t who I am.”

Rhodey looked shocked and hurt. A tiny part of Peter’s mind was protesting, telling him to cave and say he wanted to be known as a Stark, the bigger part of his mind was telling him that he was doing the right thing, no matter how hard it was for him to say. Another small part of his mind whispered that he wasn’t telling the truth, not all of it at least. That perhaps Rhodes should be informed of the truth.

Peter ignored the small parts of his mind.

Rhodey hung his head. “I see…”

“I’m sorry.” Peter whispered. “I really am, but…I’m not a Stark, nor do I want to be.”

Peter began to walk away. “Please, do not tell them. I know my ‘kidnapping’ was hard on them, but Richard saved me because otherwise I would’ve been killed. He wanted to tell you, but Obadiah had already turned all of you against him.”

Rhodey nodded solemnly. “I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

Peter walked off, his heart heavy and hurting. Every step he took was another stab to his veins.

Maybe he just lost his uncle…and he wasn’t sure if he’d ever get him back.

 

Red Skull only smirked from the shadows.

“Perfect.” He whispered. “Everything is working in my favour.”


	22. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The road trip (the chapters are quite long so they take a long time to write out).
> 
> I may add some things to this chapter but maybe not (I'll tell you if I do).

Thor hummed, and Valkyrie narrowed her eyes at her king, and Peter wondered if she just figuring out the best way to murder him and not have it be traceable back to her. Valkyrie was one of those people who could probably get away with murder. Peter wondered if that was just because she liked to get drunk.

It was wonder how she even got along with Okoye.

They seemed to be parallels to one another aside from the fact that both are loyal to their royal family.

Korg had been sent by Heimdall to where the rest of the Asgardians were, and he seemed sad to leave his friends but promised to help protect the Asgardians. Heimdall had decided to join him to offer support.

“What is it your majesty?” Valkyrie asked, turning back to her beer.

“I want to go on, what is it called, a road trip?” Thor said, nodding firmly.

“Why?” Loki and Bruce looked at him as though he grew another head.

“It will be fun and relaxing no?” Thor asked, had tilting to the side.

Peter snickered as Bruce began to get very animated to tell Thor that his plan was stupid. It was always amusing to watch Thor shield away from the smaller human, not wanting to risk pissing him off in   
any way. Bruce was very set on not going on a road trip out of fear someone would recognise him.

Peter stretched across the couch and ignored the look he received from Loki. He was meant to be training with his magic but had chosen to relax instead. Obviously, the sorcerer was getting agitated by him. Peter wasn’t a sorcerer though, he was a spider. Spiders don’t use magic.

“I hope you’ve been practising your magic.” Loki said, looking highly unimpressed when the only response he got was a yawn. “You never know when magic can save your life.”

“I know.” Peter shot the god an annoyed look. “You keep reminding me. Also, for your information, I do practise.”

Loki didn’t look like he believed him, but thankfully dropped the conversation.

Thor clapped loudly when Stephen and Wong entered the room. “We are going on a road trip!”

“What?’ Stephan frowned. “When did we agree to this?”

“We didn’t agree to anything.” Valkyrie protested. “I like it here.”

Thor groaned. “We need to get out though. Wong can protect the sanctum and the time stone.”

“Who said I was coming along?” Stephen hissed.

“Someone needs to watch Loki.” Thor explained, dutifully ignoring the splutter and snarl of annoyance, anger and betrayal. “I trust you can manage that, also Peter will need to continue practising his magic.”

Peter only raised an eyebrow but didn’t complain like everyone else.

A road trip sounded good. School holidays had just started, and May had some time of work. Also, he needed to get away from Stark Industries. It hurt whenever he saw Rhodes. Maybe some time away and distance will help calm everything between the two of them.

 

Shuri groaned, eyeing the ceiling. If her mother saw her in the throne room just draped over a chair, she would throw a fit. Thankfully, only her brother was in the palace, after discussing recent events with the tribes. As a princess she should help, but meh.

Nakia was future queen, she could deal.

Mother would still be annoyed with her carelessness towards royal duties.

She was only heir, but sooner or later Nakia would be expecting T’Challa’s child who would be heir.

Anyway, Shuri needed to try and organise her thoughts.

“You are lucky, mother isn’t here, sis.” T’Challa spoke as he walked into the throne room, throwing his jacket atop his unsuspecting sister.

Shuri was so used to it that she didn’t even flinch when the material landed on her face. She merely only groaned loudly and cursed him.

It showed how often it occurred that T’Challa only laughed, not taking it seriously. He never could when a jacket was covering Shuri’s face, it made her less scary and more childish the more she whined whenever it happened.

“Brother! Do you think Peter is will be annoyed if I steal his AI?” Shuri asked, jerking the jacket from her face and stared at him with wide eyes.

T’Challa just blinked at Shuri which made her want to throw the closest rock at his face.

Shuri huffed and sat properly on the chair. “I like how sassy she is.”

“I know. I’ve met her.” T’Challa murmured, before shaking his head. “She is Parker’s AI, Shuri. Also, I doubt I could be able to do with two sassy females.”

A snicker escaped his younger sister. “All the more reason to have her, no?”

“Shuri.” T’Challa’s tone was a warning one and she raised her hands. A smirk crossed his face. “Anyway, why would you want her? Could it have something to do with Parker?”

A falter. “No.” Bingo.

“Does my baby sister have a crush?”

“No!”

“You do! My baby sister likes an American, I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Pfft, I don’t like him. Don’t get that into your head, dumbass.”

“Naw. So cute ~”

“Shut up!”

“You are blushing.”

“No, I’m not.”

“You are! Bast above! Wait until mother hears about this!”

“Don’t you dare say anything, or do I need to remind of how you were like whenever Nakia was mentioned?”

“So, you do like Peter Parker.”

A splutter.

“You do! This is great! Oh man, this is brilliant. I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Where are you going?!”

“You’re no denying anything!”

“Don’t you dare!”

A loud crash caused two Dora Milaje to jump to attention and turn their heads towards the throne room. The older Dora standing a few metres away shook her head.

“Do not fret, sisters. It is just the siblings. They do this a lot.” She explained.

The two younger Dora Milaje glanced at each other but nodded and slowly relaxed to return to their positions. The elder smiled slightly as the noise dwindled down, no more yelling could be heard.

She caught sight of the two exchanging quiet murmurs and spoke up quickly. “Also, do not say anything of this.” They both stiffened and jerked to stare at the wall opposite them.

So much blackmail the Dora Milaje had, considering the two royal siblings tended to forget that the rooms were not all soundproof (for security reasons).

Thankfully they were often too annoyed with each other, or tormenting each other, that they barely paid attention to who was around. It lead to hilarious bets between the Dora Milaje on which sibling would overstep their boundaries.

It was always T’Challa. Shuri just needed to act cute and her brother would do anything for her, that for she fake cries and he can’t do anything to prevent himself from caving. He always does, he’s too soft on his sister, but honestly it was too cute for anyone to complain.

 

Peter adjusted his bag as he stared at Tony and Pepper. “Yeah, I know it’s short notice. I hope it wasn’t an inconvenience.” His voice dropped to a soft tone.

He noticed Rhodey watching him with a soft expression. Rhodey had spent the last two days hoping to get closer to Peter without it being obvious. While Peter was reluctant to accept him into his life properly, Rhodey was persistent – but Peter was a stubborn teenager.

“It’s no inconvenience.” Pepper said, smiling warmly at him. “I hope the road trip is fun and relaxing. You need it.”

Peter decided to not mention his nightmares anymore. It was bad enough Tina’s words haunted him, and the nightmares he had of a burning orange planet caused him to wake up in a sweat. He was uncertain of what it all meant.

Rhodey waited until Peter was sort of distanced from Tony and Pepper, and lowly spoke to him. “Peter, I know you are unsure, but can we still keep in contact? I’m sure Karen has my contact.”

Peter frowned, but then contemplated the pros and cons. He sighed. “Fine, but only when I really want to, then Karen will contact you.”

“That’s all I wanted to know.” Rhodey smiled. “You should also stay in contact with Tones and Peps.”

“Why?” Peter snapped, before collecting himself. A deep breath in. “I’m sorry, Colonel Rhodes.”

Rhodey hung his head. “Peter…It’s Rhodey. Look, they are your parents even if they don’t know it.” He tilted his head towards the two adults who were talking with May. “I’m sure they would be worried if they don’t hear from you.”

Lips pursed, and Rhodey could tell Peter was thinking his decision over.

“Maybe…I’ll see. I’m only be gone for like three days.” Peter argued, finding it ridiculous that they want to be in contact with him – which was fair. 

“Well, parents never forget their children.” Rhodey explained, lightly ruffling Peter’s hair. “Even if they aren’t aware.”

Peter huffed. “People keep saying that.”

“Because it’s true.”

“I’ll believe it when I witness it.”

Rhodey only rolled his eyes at Peter’s stubbornness. He was so much like his father, it was a wonder how no-one had figured out that they were related by now.

Peter and Rhodey walked back over to Tony and Pepper. May had paused in what she was saying to smile at her nephew, who tried to smile back but could only managed a slight grimace.

“I was just talking with Tony and Pepper about you going over to their place next week.” May explained, and Peter almost said that he already knew what they had been talking about.

May also smiled warmly at the other three adults. “I’ll make sure Peter remains in contact though.”

“We’re only going away for a couple of days.” Peter muttered, sounding extremely pissed off.

Tony and Pepper shared worried glances, but soon Harley came bounding over.

“Peter!”

Peter jumped and was tackled by Harley.

“Don’t leave me alone with Tina!” Harley wailed.

Peter looked wide eyed at the adults who all looked amused.

Peter grumbled and shoved at Harley. “Let go of me.”

While Peter had no more issues with Harley, he still had issues with physical contact with him. Harley didn’t take it to heart, well Peter wasn’t sure if he did or not. If he did take it to heart, Peter wasn’t sure how he would react to that news.

Harley pouted. “You can’t leave me with Tina.”

“It’s the holidays, you aren’t going to be alone with Tina. She may not even be here.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right. She’s visiting her chaotic cousin, now I remember.” Harley nodded, but still huffed. “You are still leaving.”

Peter was wondering when Harley became so close to him. It happened so fast and suddenly that Peter had no idea what had happened.

Tony placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Will you try and keep in contact?”

Peter hesitated but saw Rhodey’s gaze and the very slight head nod. “Yeah, I’ll try.”

At Rhodey’s smile, Peter felt good about his choice. Perhaps this was a sign that maybe things would begin to look up.

 

Loki stretched across the couch as he tried to rest as the coach continued down the road. Peter was making it very difficult for him though, constantly summoning fire that seriously irritated the Frost Giant. However, Loki had made a promise to Stephen that he wouldn’t use his magic on the entire trip.

He was not impressed at all.

Peter was thrilled about it.

Thor, Bruce, Valkyrie, May and Stephen found it amusing.

Only Loki was irritated about it.

Everyone else relished in the patience that the prince had towards the teenager that had a thrill whenever he was using magic.

Thor looked out the window and hummed as he watched the scenery seem to fly by. Loki hissed when Peter’s flame got a bit to close to him for his liking.

“Loki!” Stephen barked, when Loki raised his hand to create something made of magic to teach Peter a lesson.

Loki scowled, and Peter got the hint to leave the adults alone and walked into another part of the carriage. He fiddled with his phone and he sighed deeply before suddenly it lit up with an unknown number.

Glancing at everyone else who was so focused on talking with each other, Peter slipped into one of the side rooms. He answered the phone and held it to his ear. “Hello?”

“Hello, Peter Parker?” A feminine voice asked, and it sounded very familiar to him.

Nakia!

“Um…Is this Nakia?” He asked, sitting down on a chair. Suddenly he felt very relaxed. Maybe it’s because Nakia knew one of his secrets.

“Yes, I’m guessing you recognised my voice.” Nakia laughed. “Well, how are you?”

“Good.” Peter said, smiling when Karen trotted up with a tilt of her head. He mouthed ‘Nakia’ and she nodded before curling up on his lap. “I’m on a road trip.”

“A road trip?!” He heard another voice that made him startle.

“Shuri! Stop yelling in my ear.” Nakia scolded, but Shuri was rambling about wanting to go on a road trip. Apparently, she was complaining to Nakia and most likely T’Challa who was rarely away from either his sister or girlfriend.

Especially when they were together.

“It’s nothing special.” Peter spoke and could hear Shuri pause in her chatter. “It’s quite boring so far.”

“Only because you got scolded for using magic.” Karen muttered, keeping her voice down.

Shuri was silent but then she spoke up again. “But…At least you are on a road trip! I’m stuck in Wakanda or California. It gets boring here really quickly.”

Peter felt a smile tugging at his lips. Karen swiped at his arm and then appeared to smirk.

“You were blushing and looked love struck.”

“I wasn’t.” Peter hissed at his AI who only snickered.

“Peter?” Nakia brought Peter back to the phone call.

Peter shook his head. “Sorry, just my AI, Karen.”

Shuri wailed. “Why can’t I come along?”

Peter paled, but still felt his cheeks warm up. Karen made a throwing up motion, acting disgusted by her creator’s crush on the princess. “Uh…It’s more of a family trip.”

“Oh…” Shuri sounded so dejected, and quite upset. “Well…”

“Do I need to keep in contact?” Peter teased. “Apparently that’s all people want to tell me to do on this trip.”

There was a splutter before T’Challa spoke. “That is something she’d like.” His tone was playful and teasing.

Shuri screeched and a loud smack then thud rang through the phone. Karen raised her head and blinked at the phone as Peter pulled it away from his ear. They shared a look, before Karen began laughing at what just happened.

Nakia sighed at the antics from the royal siblings. “They aren’t this bad normally.” A pause. “It usually takes longer for T’Challa to piss his sister off.”

“Does not.” Shuri denied.

Nakia said nothing but Peter could tell she was raising her eyebrows at her in disbelief.

“So, Nakia…How did you get my number?” Peter asked, continuing to gaze out the window of the coach. “I don’t hand my number out to people.”

“I’m a spy, Peter. Also, Shuri might’ve helped.” Nakia teased, earning another screech from the princess.

A door slammed, and Peter guessed Shuri had pretty much just fled the room.

“Okay, she’s gone, so is T’Challa.” Nakia sounded relieved, and curiosity sparked inside Peter. “Now we can talk, Spiderman.”

“What about?”

“Is it a good idea to leave New York undefended?”

“I’ll be gone for like three days.” Peter reasoned. “Also, crime doesn’t tend to be as high during the holidays. People are going away, and often criminals do to unless something else occurs.”

Peter wasn’t going to say he was always uncertain about leaving New York, but he also knew he wasn’t the only super hero in the city. If he got so anxious every single time, he’d never leave. Anyway, Thor, Bruce, Loki, Valkyrie and Stephen also need to get away from New York.

Things had been quite peaceful since the sceptre was stolen. Should he tell her that?

“But…” Peter said, fiddling with the curtains. “Something did happen a few weeks back.” Had it really been several weeks since he met the Asgardians, the Masters of Mystic Arts, and the Hulk himself? It seemed like it was only last week. “I felt a disturbance…”

“What kind of disturbance?” Nakia asked, when Peter hesitated in his words, prompting him to continue.

“A magic one…” Peter whispered, he hoped his instincts were right in that he could trust her.

Nakia hesitated before laughing. “Peter, there is no such thing as magic.”

Peter almost growled, but Karen seemed to sense his agitation. “Well, unexplained science then! Whatever, it was magic, what we’d consider magic anyway.”

Nakia was silent, as if pondering Peter’s words. He could tell immediately that she didn’t believe him at all. Well, that was a surprise, Peter would think you’re lying if he was told that and he didn’t know about the Masters of Mystic Arts. But Wanda…

Nakia would’ve known about Wanda at least, right?

Peter sighed. “It’s stupid, don’t worry about it.”

Nakia tried to protest but Peter hung up before slumping in the seat. Karen didn’t speak, she was quite quiet recently, and Peter didn’t know how to feel.

Karen was probably feeling sick, so he should go over her code tonight just to check up on her.

Peter hummed, then found himself hovering over the number to Tony Stark.

Should he call him? Maybe Tony knows why AIs grow suddenly quiet. Tony also knew Karen and therefore knew how rare it was for the AI to be silent.

Well, just like her creator. Unless she was thinking, but then again, she would’ve said something. The cat shifted slightly, her tail curling up around her head and ears, as if blocking something out. Peter rested his hand on her fake fur, and lightly stroked her back, unsure if he was even being comforting to her.

Without any further thought, Peter rang the number.

Holding his phone to his ear, Peter closed his eyes as he thought about the best way to explain the situation to the more experienced adult. Tony had made so many AIs after all, it was stupid to assume he didn’t have experience in this field.

“Peter? You know when I told you to stay in contact I didn’t mean five hours after you left.” The tone was light and teasing, but Peter couldn’t find it in himself to laugh at it.

“I have a situation.” Peter said, words unsure. “It involves Karen, and I don’t know what is wrong with her. I haven’t checked her code yet because I don’t know if I would be able to figure it out.”

Silence. “Peter, you’re intelligent. Probably even more so than me, you can figure anything out.”

It reminded Peter of when Spiderman would swing by to assist the Avengers occasionally. They admired his skill in figuring out plans on the spot no matter what, making them lenient but still linear.

“I’m new to the whole AI thing. Karen is also my only AI, even if I’ve had her for almost three years.”

Tony let out a hum. “So, what is wrong with her. I’m putting you on speaker so Friday can pull anything up.”

“She’s quiet.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Tony asked. “Wait…Can you do a video call? This may be easier if I can talk to her myself, and actually see her.”

Peter fiddled around with his phone for a bit before making a hologram appear, it was the first time he was testing that attribute so hopefully it worked for the duration of the call. Tony was focused as he appeared to pull up records of all his AIs.

Tony’s eyes widened before a grin crossed his face. “Is this a hologram?”

“Maybe.”

“Kid…I never should’ve doubted your skill. With older technology too!” A whistle of admiration. “I’m impressed, Pete. Seriously, very impressed.”

Peter felt his cheeks redden. “Thank you, sir.”

Tony groaned. “It’s Tony, kid. No sir or Mr Stark bullshit. Got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

Tony narrowed his eyes at Peter who looked innocently back at him. The adult shook his head and glanced at Karen who wasn’t looking up even though she took every possibility to tease Tony whenever she could. As such, her not reacting already spoke volumes about how well she was.

“Friday, pull up cat sickness symptoms. Karen definitely seems unwell, but without her code I don’t think I’ll be able to do anything.” Tony said regretfully.

“I have her code with me.” Peter said, shifting to reach for his laptop and opened Karen’s code that he always kept hidden within his files. “It looks fine over all, but when I created her something about her code was off. That is probably why she is so human, because I didn’t complete her code.”

If his AI took offence to his words, she didn’t show it. Karen only curled up further into his lap, burying her head into his stomach.

Tony just nodded, listening to everything as he typed away rapidly at his computer. “So, this had never happened before?”

“No.”

“I would probably suggest going through her code and try and remove or edit some lines.” Tony explained. “I have experienced this before, with Jocasta. She’s…She was broken with her code. Similar to Karen, but the opposite. She was unable to process emotions and use that to understand people. You can’t see the broken codes unless you know what you are looking for, Karen is probably just being affected by something. Since she’s also a robot, maybe any loose wires that have been affected by the cold? I know it’s summer but there have been a few cold snaps.”

Peter gazed at Karen and looked over the form as much as he could.

“Uh…Would it be easier if I scanned her and send it over to you?” Peter asked.

“Perhaps, then we can both look over it, do you want to share the code with me. Maybe I can figure out what you left out, even though I wouldn’t change anything in her code.” Tony replied, shifting to bring up his own holograms.

 

After a long tedious two hour of checking over Karen. She ended up being fine.

Not at first, but by the end.

It turned out that the recent cold snap (that had also affected Peter) had badly damaged some of the information processors the robot had. It had also made her unable to shift between all her forms with ease, which was why she was stuck as a cat and hadn’t been able to move.

Tony had to pull apart her code and robot design, and constantly quizzed Peter on everything about it. Once he was pleased with what he was told, Tony got to work. Peter constantly assisted and protested some ideas as they might’ve affected Karen over all and he didn’t want that.

Karen thanked Tony several times, a rare feat for Karen who rarely showed her gratitude to her own boss. Peter guessed it showed that Karen truly did trust Tony and liked him even without him helping her out.

Peter and Karen left the room once the coach stopped outside the motel in which they were all staying. They had a family suite, and all the males had to share a room.

Peter could tell that they were all going to kill each other by the end of the night.

Peter climbed onto the top bunk and flopped onto the covers, Karen had joined Valkyrie and May in the other bedroom. Karen had claimed she was not staying in a room with four males who will do anything and everything to drive each other insane.

Stephen was resting on the bed below Peter, using his own magic to form a barrier between him and everyone else. Rolling over and hanging his head over the side of the bed, Peter stuck his tongue out at the wizard.

“You’re a kill joy.”

“And you’re hanging upside down.”

“I’m a spider. It’s what we do.”

A sudden yell caused the two humans to look over at the royal pair who were glaring at each other. Bruce was standing to the side, having chosen the single bed in the far end of the room, and looking between the two of them.

“Don’t kill each other. May and Valkyrie will murder us if we cause a racquet.”

That was enough of a threat to cause Thor and Loki to look away from each other.

It was growing to be dark, and they all already had dinner was there was no point in continuing to hang around if they didn’t need to.

Peter stared at the ceiling and began to create a line of fire between his fingers.

“Why do you like fire so much?” Loki asked, back turned to the teenager but still could feel the flames.

“I could create electricity, but I think Thor would be annoyed.” Peter laughed, when the said God nodded and shot a playful glare at him.

Stephen huffed. “Get ready for bed, child.”

Peter let out a groan, before climbing off the bed to change into some sleep wear. He moved into the bathroom and changed into sweat pants and realised he had no shirt.

There was an intake of horrified breath.

“Peter!”

Peter picked up a shirt and stared at Bruce whose eyes were wide in shock.

“What is it?” Peter spoke, his voice growing uneasy.

“What happened to your shoulders?!” Bruce yelped, leaping up to grab at Peter’s shoulders. “You have scars.”

“Oh.” Peter looked down. “They were from the Vulture.”

“What happened?” Loki asked, eyes strangely worried.

Peter shrugged. “His talons dug into my shoulders and left scars. It’s fine, it doesn’t hurt anymore. My healing ability ensured that it healed relatively well.”

Bruce began to freak out, and Peter found himself unable to calm him down. He decided to just keep his mouth shut. Better to not say anything than say something and regret it.

The scars were cool, okay. He didn’t even want them to heal. It made people wonder what happened to him if they saw him.


	23. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More road trip, and some further developments. This and the next chapter are more or less filler chapters with plot. Possibly hinting towards a relationship I also adore (it's a guilty pleasure of mine).
> 
> Also, Peter likes British food a lot because Tom Holland is British (May can't stand the food however)
> 
> Also!!!! Three more chapters and then Act 3 starts, I'm so excited!

Peter felt warmth, only warmth. Much like the fire he would create when bored after mastering it from Loki and Stephen. It was burning hot, but warm on his skin. It gave him a sense of peace and tranquillity.

Sighing, Peter snuggled further into his blankets. The bed was uncomfortable at first but with this warmth, he found himself falling to sleep easily.

A voice echoed in his mind, it was singing a lullaby.

An Italian lullaby.

“My sweet son.” The voice echoed, causing Peter to realise he was having a memory.

A memory of when Tony and Pepper would sing him lullabies whenever he couldn’t sleep.

With learning magic, his memories began to return to him.

Slowly.

It was sensations first, the warmth from being around Tony and Pepper. It was why he loved fire in the first place. It made him feel closer to his parents without being close to them.

He jerked awake, his mind racing at a sudden thought.

Except, he was once again in the misty field. He wondered if he would see Infinity or Nakia, maybe someone else. He wasn’t sure what the deal was with visiting this dream landscape, but hey it was useful.

If anyone was asleep that is.

No one was apparently.

Peter sighed and ran a hand down his face as he flickered his gaze around. He was alone.

Why did that sound like a terrible omen to a future event.

Oh god, he hoped not.

 

Peter’s eyes fluttered open. His phone screen was flashing as it lit up. Peter could hear the faint ringing of his ringtone, but it sounded much louder to him of course.

Reaching over, he answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Ah, Peter. Did I call at the wrong time?” Rhodey.

Of course.

“Uh…Not really, I mean…It did wake me up.” Peter explained, yawning behind his hand.

“You should sleep then.”

Peter looked at the sleeping adults. “Nah, I’m awake now.”

Rhodey seemed hesitant, before continuing to speak. “Well, it’s seven am so I was just wondering about you.”

“I’m good, really good.” Peter stretched, before slipping off the bunk, and quietly padding away from the room.

“I heard about Karen.”

“Oh…yeah, she’s fine. She just needs to stay out of doing anything…I dunno, she has to stay in one form. For the time being and can’t run around or stuff like that.” And she can’t join me on my patrols, Peter thought to himself.

“That’s good at least.” Rhodey’s tone was brighter, before it turned solemn again. “When will you tell Tony and Pepper the truth?”

Peter paused and bristled. “When will you just drop it?”

“I won’t drop it until I get an answer. I can’t keep this secret forever.”

“Then don’t!” Peter hissed, his temper flaring, his fingers clutching and flames dancing across them. “Tell them for all I care!”

Valkyrie was standing in the doorway of the kitchen with May. Both of them were looking at him, gazes turning to the flames. Peter quenched the flames and looked across the living room.

Rhodey murmured. “I won’t tell them. You are obviously distressed…I shouldn’t have mentioned it. I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry…” Peter tilted his head. “Uncle James, I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that.”

May smiled and walked back into the kitchen saying that she was going to make some waffles. Valkyrie asked why they couldn’t have brownies, and May pointed out that is was chocolate.

“But you have chocolate with waffles?” Valkyrie sounded so perplexed.

Peter felt his lips twitch into a smile. “Look…um…Can we talk a bit later? We are currently making waffles for breakfast.”

“Oh yum.” Rhodey sounded hungry. “Which remind me, we need to eat as well. Who knows where all the food is. Anyway, please do call later, Peter.”

“I will, don’t worry.” Peter said before the phone call ended.

“May? Can I help you make some brownies?” Peter asked, entering the kitchen to hear Valkyrie complaining about meals and why certain foods were acceptable at different times of day.

May groaned. “Peter, not you too.”

Peter huffed, resting against the counter. “But…I promised Loki that I’d introduce him to brownies.”

“After irritating him with fire?” Valkyrie questioned, looking longingly at the fridge where the alcohol was.

“Well, I made the promise before that fire incident.” Peter grinned sheepishly.

Valkyrie merely raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Nothing. I said nothing.”

Peter rolled his eyes and bounded towards his aunt. “Please, Aunt May? Can’t we make brownies as well?”

His hair on the back of his neck stood on end, as he felt Thor approaching the room. While no one else can hear it, Peter could sense the electricity in the air. It was so uniquely Thor, it was like how Valkyrie sometimes smelt like horses and ozone, and how Loki always smelt like ice and snow but that was being hit with sunlight.

His senses are very useful with being able to identify people by their scent only. He could also single them out in a crowd. He could literally never get lost if he’s trying to track someone.

“Thor!” Peter called. “Do you want brownies?”

Thor paused in the doorway and stared at them. Suddenly a bright smile crossed his face. “Of course, I do love brownies after having some before.”

“See!” Peter motioned towards the king. “Thor also wants some.”

May groaned. “Fine, but once they are done you will have to wake the others.”

Thor nodded and motioned to Valkyrie. “Why don’t Valkyrie and I look around town?”

Valkyrie began to complain when Thor dragged her out of the house. “Why? Why me?”

Peter could only laugh at the complaints that Thor was ignoring. Regardless, Valkyrie would join Thor just to ensure he doesn’t do anything stupid. But it being Thor meant that it would be stupidly dumb or stupidly reckless.

Now, thinking about it, Valkyrie would just let Thor do whatever. She was just making sure no villains appear. As a Valkyrie, the leader nonetheless, Valkyrie’s protectiveness of others weaker than her is very strong.

Even if she acts as though she doesn’t care much for them.

 

After the brownies were taken out of the oven, and Stephen and Bruce had come out of the room, only Loki remained asleep.

“Pete, can you get Loki?” May asked once Thor and Valkyrie had returned.

Peter nodded and slipped into the bedroom and crouched down to shake Loki’s shoulder. “Loki.”

Loki jerked awake, his skin turning blue as ice spikes ripped up from the ground. Peter yelped, jumping back, his reflexes saving his life. Loki’s normal green eyes were blood red, skin blue with darker marking on his face, and suddenly his Frost Giant heritage became clearer.

Loki snarled. “I’m not going back to him.”

“Loki! It’s me!” Peter held his hands up, but his body was tensed in order to protect himself. “It’s just me.”

An ice spike fell from the ceiling and almost impaled the teenager, had Valkyrie had been there in time. The warrior tackled Peter to the ground, and firmly shoved him behind her, her sword appearing in her hand.

“Loki, calm down. I am not going to harm you, but if you bring harm to the child, then I will not hesitate to attack you.” Valkyrie spoke, her tone slow but threatening.

Loki clenched his fist. “Do it then.”

“Brother!”

Loki froze, eyes shifting to their normal green so fast it seemed like it was a trick of the light. Suddenly, Loki’s body turned back to it’s Asgardian appearance, and he stared at Valkyrie, Thor and Peter with fearful eyes.

“Parker…I’m sorry.” Loki whispered, body shaking as he stared at the ice spikes across the bedroom. He had almost killed the child, the child that didn’t deserve it, who had done nothing wrong.

Peter was shaking, and Valkyrie stood protectively between him and the prince. Her eyes narrowed, body almost bristling, and while she knew Loki was most likely suffering from a nightmare, he still lashed out at a child. She had also sworn to help protect Peter no matter what.

“It’s alright.” Peter shook his head and only smiled at the prince. “I know you had a nightmare.”

“About Thanos?” Bruce asked tentatively.

Loki panicked before looking at everyone around him. His shoulders slumped and nodded mutely. Thor shifted and slipped to stand beside his younger brother. No words were said, or even needed.

Peter shared a look with Bruce and Thanos. None of them had met Thanos, yet…It was a matter of time before they came across the Mad Titan.

 

Loki groaned as Peter tugged on his wrist to drag him across the street. “So, why are we going to a candy store?”

“Why not? Who doesn’t like candy?” Peter questioned, glancing across the street even though he’d be able to hear any cars coming.

“I don’t like that stuff.” Loki snorted, looking disgusted at the mere thought of candy. He seemed fond of brownies, but chocolate was different to most typical candy.

Peter rolled his eyes. “That’s why we aren’t having American candy, we are having European candy, not as sweet often. American food is very sugary, and expensive.”

Loki huffed as they entered the store, the numerous scents hitting both males full force. Peter seemed to follow his nose as he walked up and down the isles to pick up some random taste testers. The Asgardian was right behind him most of the time, eyes narrowed at everything chocolate based.

“Here.” Peter handed Loki a couple of jelly babies. “They come in a range of flavours.”

Loki eyed them in distaste but before he could protest about not wanting them, Peter had vanished behind the isles towards the chocolate. Loki scowled but ate a couple of them at once, and as soon as he finished them he pursed his lips. They were incredibly sweet but to the same point as some other sweets, with multiple flavours that blended together in a lovely mix, Loki found himself liking them. Picking up a bag of jelly babies, then deciding to get two packets (just in case Thor, Valkyrie, Bruce and Stephen stole his packet, like they have done previously), Loki found Peter picking up a packet of something that said Maltesers.

“People diss British candy without ever trying it.” Peter explained but sensing Loki’s confusion. “I personally love British candy and food, but my aunt hates it. She finds it repulsive.”

Loki hummed. “I thought you and May were tight on money.”

“I’m an intern at Stark Industries. We get paid, not a lot but still. Money is money.” Peter shrugged, eyes flicking towards Loki. “Anyway, I wanted to share some candy with you, Thor and Valkyrie. You three need something sweet.”

“Fair enough. Is that all?”

“We may be back later.”

“Maybe that time being sent to gather some food for May and you to make food.”

“You guys can help. I think Bruce will, just so he can do something.”

Loki nodded.

Peter paused and narrowed his eyes at Loki.

“What, child?”

“Stay away from my aunt.”

“What do you mean?’ Loki spluttered, and for once the normally collected prince looked embarrassed. “I do not want anything to do with your aunt.”

“God of Mischief.” Peter muttered, glowering. “May isn’t interested.”

Loki stiffened. “I am not interested in your aunt, there is…”

Loki trailed off, eyes turned down as if remembering someone that he loved. Peter frowned, concern filling him as Loki sighed deeply.

“She reminds me of Sif. I liked her, and she disliked me to the point she rarely hung around me for more than what was necessary.” Loki explained as they approached the counter. “Sif…She was in love with Thor, but he never returned her feelings then there was the whole thing with Jane.”

They paused in their conversation when they bought the candy and lollies but resumed it once they left the store.

“They split before Thor returned properly to Asgard. I think now Thor and Valkyrie are a thing, but while I admire Valkyrie I do not view her in any way that would hurt me. I am not the type to be committed to a person, especially if they live the same length of time as myself.”

Peter scuffed the ground. “Here I was thinking there was something between Okoye and Valkyrie, even if Valkyrie hasn’t told her who and what she is.” Eyes sparkling. “Would you imagine Thor, Valkyrie and Okoye?”

Loki snorted in amusement. “My brother would be dead within twenty-four hours.”

“I will dress my best for his funeral then.” Peter laughed, earning a smirk from the elder.

Before any more words could be exchanged, Valkyrie skidded to a stop, eyes wide in shock and amazement. “I saw one!”

“Saw what?” Loki asked, body tensing, and Peter could see faint blue marks appearing on his arms, his magic threatening to make itself known. Especially if someone was injured.

“A Pegasus!” Valkyrie grinned. “I haven’t seen one since the fight against Hela so many centuries ago.”

“A real-life Pegasus?” Peter question, shock filling his body. 

Valkyrie nodded before running down the street, beckoning Loki and Peter to follow her. “Come, come! Thor, May, Bruce and Stephen are already at the fence!”

Feet stamped on the ground, a skidding noise as the three of them haltered with the rest.

Peter leaned on the fence. “That is certainly a Pegasus.”

The Pegasus was gray dappled, and with a white mane and tail that looked silver in the sun light. It seemed much larger than a normal horse, and its wings were folded neatly at its side. When they stretched out, they spanned an incredible distance, and the black tipped with some major white patches on the feathers.

It tossed its head before looking up and staring right at them.

Valkyrie made a calling noise, and the Pegasus began to trot up, interested.

Everyone watched as the Pegasus paused in front of Valkyrie and let her pet it.

“That’s so incredible.” Bruce gasped, looking at Valkyrie as though she was the most amazing person in the world.

Valkyrie pressed a kiss to its nose. “I want to take it on a flight.”

Karen nudged the back of Peter’s leg, and he bent down to scoop her up into his arms. “Is that a good idea?”

“I don’t care, I’m going to do it.” Valkyrie slipped over the fence and managed to pull herself up onto the Pegasus’ back.

“Why is it not reacting?” Karen asked, voice still soft and uneasy.

Valkyrie sat proudly atop the Pegasus. “I’m a Valkyrie. We have a bond with all Equines.”

“That makes sense.” Peter nodded slowly, but Karen huffed quietly. She just turned her head back into his elbow, wanting to block out unnecessary input.

The Pegasus neighed loudly before galloping down the field, and then took flight almost immediately after.

“I’m jealous.” May said. “I wish I could have a Pegasus.”

Stephen huffed, turning around and walking away. “I’m not going to hang around for her. I need to find a place to observe New York.”

Peter hurried after Stephen, Thor joining them as well. “But Iron Man, War Machine and Vision are in New York. I’m certain the city is safe.” Probably not from crime, but still safe.

Stephen glowered. “I know, but still, I’d rather ensure it myself.”

“You don’t trust them?” Thor questioned.

“The contrary. I trust them quite a lot.” Stephen glanced briefly at Peter. “Even you, Spider.”

Peter looked between the pair. He felt shock and admiration when he heard that. Stephen felt like he could trust Peter, and the teenager wondered how important that was to Stephen to admit he trusted a child.

 

Peter stared at the ship control panels, eyes wide in fear. “What do you mean I can drive this thing?!”

“Well…You’ve never driven a ship before.” Thor waved his hand around.

“I’ve never driven anything before!” Peter decided to leave out the time he crashed Flash’s car at Homecoming as Spiderman. Thor was probably aware of that, or if he wasn’t would probably rethink his decision.

“Come, sit down I’ll show you the controls.”

Peter shook, panic and fear filling his very being.

 

“Woah!” Peter cried, as the ship slowed from a fast speed to a much slower and manageable speed.

Thor let out a loud whoop. “That was brilliant! You are a natural!”

Peter shook his head. “Probably only because of my enhanced sense.”

“It doesn’t matter, you are getting the hang of this.”

“How do I land this thing?”

“Already? Let’s fly across the world once first.”

“I mean…Okay, let’s go.”

Thor cheered, and waved his hand to the windscreen. “Well, fly away, my boy!”

Peter moved the controls and began to move forward, steadily picking up speed. However, Peter quickly slammed on the brakes and sharply turned the ship, causing Thor to collapse on a seat and taking the other controls to help manage it.

“What was that?” Thor asked, once their ship had steadied out.

“It is the Wakandan Royal Talon Flyer.” Peter said, and Thor quickly shut off all communication devices.

“Are we near Wakanda?” Thor asked, glancing at the teenager who would have a better understanding of the location of said country.

Peter shook his head. “We shouldn’t be.”

“Unidentified ship! Identify yourself!”

The Wakandan accent was thick but Peter recognised General Okoye’s voice, much like Thor did.

They glanced at each other. Peter shook his head, obviously not wanting to speak and use their real voices.

“Should we just vanish?” Peter hissed, glancing at the other plane. “I’m not going to risk it.”

“What? Don’t want to see the princess?’ Thor teased lightly but settled back and nodded as Peter scowled at him. “Yeah, we should.”

Thor flicked a few switches, pressed a single button and then moved the controls to turn the ship around. The camo ability soon took over as Peter was greeted with a message saying that the ship was now invisible.

Peter stood up from the seat that he was in and began fiddling around with some of the technology. “Is this Asgardian tech?”

“No, it’s from Sakaar, which is basically a trash heap.” Thor explained. “We have no idea what anything doe though, so feel free to investigate.”

“I was going to do so anyway.”

Peter sat down and managed to pull up a hologram of the ship, and surrounding areas. It seemed very Vibranium, however the Vibranium was good but Peter had a feeling that this tech could be better. If done correctly.

Peter moved around the hologram, dissecting the ship without doing any manual labour. He flipped between everything that was along one side and turned his head to stare at a wall panel. However, upon looking at the hologram, it was clear that it wasn’t just a normal wall panel.

Peter moved the panel slightly and gaped. “Hey, Thor. Check this out.”

There was the sound of movement as Thor stood behind him, eyeing what the panel was hiding. “Well, I…I don’t know how to feel about this.”

Inside was a being like the Chitauri but with six limbs.

A single tag above it said Outrider.

Thor grumbled. “We should’ve known that it wasn’t just the Chitauri that Thanos has. These must belong to him as well.”

“Is it dead?” Peter asked quietly.

Thor picked up a sword that was leaning against the sword and stabbed it through the heart. “It is now.”

A slow nod from Peter as he stood up. “I want to try and take this ship apart, learn how it works and how I can improve on it.” He waved towards another panel. “There is a gun there, but I don’t know what it uses. If it uses energy, what type of energy?”

Thor waved his hand. “Why do we check it out?”

Peter and Thor managed to get the gun out, and after a few minutes and looking it over, Thor made an exclamation. “It uses Outrider blood.”

“It uses the blood of those things?” Peter hissed, waving his hand towards the alien creature. “That is fucking disgusting.

Thor nodded solemnly. “However, if they are anything like Chitauri, then they are bred as minions with no conscious mind of their own. They follow instructions given to them.” Thor eyed Peter. “They do not have a mind, only a thing that makes them all connected.”

“So, I shouldn’t have any qualms with killing any I run across?”

“No, best to kill them as soon as you can. We do not want Thanos to figure anything out, after all.”

When Peter was first told about the Avengers, everyone believed Thor was the slowest of them all. He didn’t understand Earth, but he understand things that weren’t from Earth, and he understood enough and was quick to learn new information.

In fact, Peter could dare say that Thor was the smartest Avenger, because he knew about things and occurrences that no-one else might have even considered for a second.

Tony Stark and Bruce Banner would be close seconds though.

Each Avengers was intelligent and smart in their own ways, it made them such a good team.

Peter’s phone rang loudly, causing them both to jump.

“It’s Rhodey.”

“Answer, I will try and not make as much noise.” Thor said, getting the hint.

Peter knew Thor missed his team, and the longing was evident in his voice.

“Hey, uncle James.” Peter greeted.

“Uncle James, I could get used to that.” Rhodey hummed. “I like it. However, I am with Tony and Pepper, well almost. They didn’t hear me say that anyway.”

Rhodey pulled away from the phone to call out. “Hey, guys! Peter is on the phone!”

Peter could hear him loud and clear and almost asked him to not yell again. It would be too suspicious.

“Hello Peter.” Tony greeted. “You haven’t called.”

“Well…I have now.”

“Rhodey called you, kid.”

“Did he?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Kid!” Rhodey exclaimed. “Why do you have to throw me under the bus?”

“Someone has to.”

Thor smiled, eye twinkling brightly. Peter tried to ignore the pang of longing, but his own grin had faded to be replaced by an expression on unease.

Thor was about to walk over but refrained when Peter held his hand up to keep the God back.

“Rude.” Rhodey sniffed. “So rude to me.”

“Anyway.” Tony spoke loudly, causing Peter to wince. “When are you returning.”

“Tomorrow night.”

Tony muttered something that Peter couldn’t identify. “Huh?”

“Never mind Tony, Peter. He’s just annoyed that Spiderman is staying silent. He’s been quiet for a week now.” Pepper explained.

Rhodey snorted. “That isn’t what he was saying, but he is a bit concerned for the vigilante.”

“He might be waiting for crime to start back up again.” Peter said, stretching and sitting in one of the pilot seats. “He probably has a lot on his plate.” Peter also ignored the flourish of happiness he felt when he realised that Tony worried about him both as Peter and as Spiderman.

“You know the guy?” Rhodey asked.

Peter flicked his hand absentmindedly. “Well, I’ve seen Spiderman here and there. I’m not that worried if I don’t see him. He is still there after all, but he’s a spider, he might be hidden in the shadows where he can’t be easily noticed.”

“Understandable.” Tony agreed. “I want to see his abilities and skills. He seems young and needs training.”

Peter almost blurted out that he was receiving training. It might be from Thor, Loki and Valkyrie, but it was still training after all. Lessons were lessons no matter who you received them from.

“How do you know he doesn’t receive training?” Peter asked, watching Thor turn the ship as they flew through the Himalayas.

There was silence, and Peter felt his body stiffen as his eyes widened.

Thor reacted the same way.

Peter reached out for the controls. “Look, I’m actually busy, I’ll call you back. I promise.” Peter hung up before he could hear their responses and jerked his controls sharply at the same time as Thor. They had almost been hit by a missile.

Thor gritted his teeth. “I have a feeling we have to be cautious now.”

“We should probably just head back.” Peter whimpered, heart racing as a hologram appeared to reveal the military base below them. “I think I’ll need to look over the cloaking device. It might be busted.”

“Do that now, I’ll get us back.” Thor said.

Peter quickly got to work on checking and fixing the cloaking device as best he could without any prior knowledge. Thankfully, Thor was reliable and able to answer any questions he had, which was quite a few.

Once the ship landed, Thor and Peter hurried back into the family suite and collapsed on their own beds. Stephen was summoning magic, and Loki was entertaining himself with movies, Bruce apparently was helping May with cooking, and Valkyrie was stretched out on Thor’s bed reading a novel that had been suggested to her.

Valkyrie didn’t turn to face them. “How was the flight?”

“It was good.” Peter shrugged. “Ran into the Royal Talon Flyer from Wakanda and was almost shot down by an anti-aircraft missile.”

Stephen raised an eyebrow and stopped his spell. “Well, I believe dinner is ready. We are heading home tomorrow.”

“We are packed.” Loki grumbled, pausing the movie to follow everyone else out of the room. “We never really unpacked anyway.”

“For you I can never assume.” Stephen spoke, ignoring Loki’s icy glare.

Peter smiled slightly but stared at his phone that was taunting him. He had a feeling he wouldn’t be calling Tony, Pepper and Rhodey back until he got back to New York.

He hoped they understood.

Though he did wonder what Rhodey wanted to call him about.


	24. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final filler chapter before shit begins to kick off before Act 3 starts.
> 
> Some Webclaws interactions (cause I love me so much)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have finally created a tumblr (I'll probably soon be creating a Twitter) https://www.tumblr.com/blog/frozendestinywarrior
> 
> I will be posting sketches of scenes from this story and my other works as well

Peter somehow crawled into his bed, after almost falling asleep in the car ride back to his and May’s apartment. He had been awake for most of the night because Valkyrie decided to let him try and ride her new Pegasus.

It didn’t go so well.

He almost fell to his death three times.

Bruce and Thor decided to put a stop to it before May found out.

Also, they didn’t want Tony and Pepper to get ear of it and yell at them for not looking out for their son – once they figured it out anyway. 

Pepper was scary, and Tony was a force to be reckoned with.

Even though Peter told them that Rhodey knew, they decided to not tell Rhodey either.

Rhodey would probably kill them. He might’ve been confused as to how they are back and where they were but would not hesitate to kill them if his nephew was in danger.

His eyes slipped shut, nuzzling into his blankets. Karen’s cat form still curled up by his side. She still hadn’t recovered enough to shift between forms, so she was quite annoyed by it but didn’t want to push it and risk stressing Peter out, and therefore putting Tony through some more stress as well.

 

“What is the big news?” Peter asked Tina and Harley as he walked up to them.

“Apparently Tony is taking us to a fair.” Tina shrugged. “Dunno where he got that from, I think it’s just to drag it out.”

Harley raised an eyebrow. “Drag what out?’

Peter hissed quietly. “I wouldn’t ask, most of us have given up trying to understand her words.”

“Because you are unable to comprehend my awesomeness.” Tina smirked.

Peter and Harley shared a look before shaking their heads at her randomness. Tina did remind Peter of MJ, just much weirder and always referencing things that just felt like nonsense to everyone else.

“Where is this fair?” Angela asked, head tilted to the side, her hijab shifting causing Chloe to leap up and adjust it slightly. Angela sent Chloe a thankful smile.

“Out of town.” Tony made a huge sweeping motion.

Scott Lang stood in the doorway with T’Challa and Shuri. He raised an eyebrow. “Dramatic much?”

Peter knew Scott had been on house arrest but didn’t know that he had already completed it, but he figured that he hadn’t completed it yet – but was allowed out as he was going to be with Rhodey, Tony and T’Challa. Who he wasn’t aware was back in America, but then the memory of the Wakandan outreach centre returned to his mind. However, that was in California, not New York.

Peter looked at Tina and Harley, the latter seemed confused but the former only grinned as if she knew what was going to happen today.

It was Tina though, she always knew.

 

Harley stretched out on the seat beside Peter who was checking his text messages with the Revengers (Stephen had a field day with teaching Valkyrie, Thor and Loki technology). Apparently, Loki had tried to ride the Pegasus and ended up getting bucked off, and almost trampled. Valkyrie was disappointed that he didn’t get trampled, and Thor was stressed about Loki doing even more reckless activities.

No wonder Peter and Loki got on so well.

Bruce had given up with them and restricted himself to hanging out with them when necessary. He obviously longed to meet Tony but had no idea how he would take the return appearance of Thor and himself (let alone Loki).

Harley turned to face Peter as the fair grounds came into view. “You know, I never expected Tony to take us to a fair.”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “You mean you haven’t been taken to a fair with him?”

“No.” Harley blushed. “I didn’t want people to raise suspicion. If you know what I mean.”

“I do.” Peter nodded, relaxing and turning off his phone. Deciding that if one of them almost died he’d care about it later. Seriously, it was a wonder how none of them had died yet.

He was also pretty sure Stephen was trying to track down Wanda Maximoff which would explain why Loki suddenly didn’t have a wizard breathing down his neck.

Climbing out of the bus, Harley nudged Peter and spoke quietly. “Can we walk together for a bit?”

Peter glanced at the adults who were only telling them to not get lost and meet back here in an hour. Apparently, they were planning something. Shuri had been dragged off by Tina, Peter didn’t even know they got along. Perhaps they didn’t, and Tina was just going to spook Shuri by her words.

Seemed like something Tina would do.

“Sure.” Peter grinned at Harley who visibly relaxed and smiled warmly back at him.

“Great.”

After walking for a while, Harley kicked at the ground. “Hey, did I ever tell you why Flash and I are friends?”

“Nope.” Peter popped the ‘p’ sound but glanced at the younger. “I guess it was because you were new, and he offered friendship.”

“Yeah…” Harley trailed off. “I wanted to be friends with you, ya know. But…” Harley laughed. “Look how that turned out.”

Peter paused. “Why be friends with me? Out of everyone in school?”

“Cause, I knew you.” Harley muttered. “You were a familiar face, but I didn’t know you.” Harley looked away, embarrassed. “Flash befriended me and told me about you and Ned, but definitely made it seem like I shouldn’t be your friend. He always coloured you in this terrible light, and I wasn’t sure if it was true or not.”

Peter was silent, waiting for Harley to continue his words.

“But, then he started telling me about what you were supposedly saying about me.” Harley met Peter’s eyes, his own slightly filling with tears. “I believed him because I still didn’t know anything about you.”

Peter hummed. “Yeah, I guess I should’ve made more of an effort to hang out with you when I could.” He nudged Harley’s shoulder with his own. “Hey, we both screwed up, but we can both move on from this experience.”

“Sounds good.”

 

Peter and Harley returned before the hour was up, Shuri was already there—Tina no where to be found which only led Peter to wondering where she had vanished to.

“So…What are we doing here now?” Harley asked, Peter shot him a look as if to say, ‘you expect me to have an answer’.

Rhodey responded. “Well, let’s just say that there are some things hidden around the fair now that Hope and Scott have been hiding. We are choosing teams to find the one thing we decide to have them search for.”

“Scott is allowed to use the Ant-Man suit?” Peter asked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought he was on house arrest.”

“He is.” Rhodey nodded, but he and Harley gave him a curious look. “How do you know about the house arrest?”

Peter froze, his cheeks heating up. “I overheard it one day.” He looked at the ground, he was almost caught. As Spiderman he knew Scott was on house arrest, he was informed about that shortly after it occurred.

They seemed to buy the almost truth and didn’t carry on the conversation.

Once all the interns were together, Tony had begun to pick teams, leaving Scott, Hope, Rhodey, T’Challa and Nakia to watch the teenagers. Cassie (Scott’s daughter) and Cooper (Clint’s son) were also there because of Laura and Maggie (Scott’s ex-wife) who had tagged along probably to get out of the house. Anyway, with Iron Man, War Machine, Ant-Man, Wasp and Black Panther, they were protected.

T’Challa glanced at Tony. “Can I choose a team?”

Peter frowned, narrowing his eyes at T’Challa especially when Nakia began to grin widely. He suddenly had a realisation as to what team T’Challa was thinking of.

When Nakia met his gaze, he mouthed “please no” but the future queen only cackled quietly. Peter felt his shoulders slump, of course he had to give in. He had no say in this at all.

Tony raising an eyebrow. “What team do you want to choose, your pantheriness.”

T’Challa rolled his eyes. “How about putting Shuri and Peter on a team together? In the maze?

Peter and Shuri both gaped at T’Challa, especially when Tony agreed with his words. Claiming it was a great idea. Of course, Peter wondered if they already were going to force him and Shuri into teaming up together.

This could only end badly.

Chloe snickered. “This is the best thing to happen today.”

Peter groaned. “Glad someone finds this amusing.”

Chloe nudged Peter. “Come on, Tiger. You will be alone with your girl.”

“She’s not my girl!” Peter hissed, his body stiffening.

Chloe raised an eyebrow, obviously not believing him, before shoving him towards Shuri. Peter shot her an annoyed look and then walked to stand beside the princess.

Harley and Tina were to join up with Cassie and Cooper, just to watch them. Peter kind of wished to either be with Harley or Tina. He might want to die, except this is probably worse now, he is with Shuri. He can only contain his crush to a degree.

Shuri tilted her head and looked at Peter. “Let’s go and wreck everyone. We could do whatever they ask us to do with no issues.”

Peter blinked, before a grin twitched at his lips. “Are you totally sure about that, princess?”

“Don’t push your luck, Peter.” Shuri grumbled, grabbing his arm to drag him towards the maze.

“I wouldn’t dream of doing it, princess.” Peter teased and noticed the faint hint of a blush on her cheeks. “Reality is much better than my dreams, anyway.”

Shuri screeched, letting go of Peter’s arm and chasing him towards the maze entrance. Peter howled with laughter as he tore off, their laughter and screeches echoed around them as they weaved between the crowd of people yet remained in each other’s sights, so they wouldn’t lose each other.

Peter knew T’Challa would also try to kill him if he heard that comment.

Oh well.

It’s not like Peter was regretting it.

 

“We are lost!”

“We aren’t lost.”

“Well, can you get us out?”

“…”

“Exactly, we are lost!”

“Look, it’s a maze.”

“A huge maze, and it’s worse because we can’t use any technology.”

“That is why T’Challa wanted us to go into the maze.”

“I hate my brother!”

“He’s your brother…”

“Which is why I hate him.”

“Okay. If you say so, princess.”

“I do say so.”

“Look, maybe we should go right.”

“It’s pitch black.”

“I can see.”

“How? Just trust me and go right, now.”

“Fine.”

There was the rustling of hedges and loud laughter.

“Peter! You fucker! You made me walk into a hedge!”

“No, I didn’t, I didn’t mean too.”

“You’re laughing at me!”

“No, I’m not.”

“You’re still laughing.”

“Ahh! Princess! Stop! I’m sorry!”

Peter stumbled into the middle of the maze and noticed what was on the table. Approaching it, he lifted it carefully in his hands. He recognised the plush toy as a panther, actually a panther with the Black Panther suit design.

Glancing at Shuri who was still stumbling after being blinded by the bright lights, Peter shifted the panther toy in his hands. He did remember designing it one day when he was bored, and Tina and Harley gave him shit about it for days afterwards. It had vanished because Peter had placed it with all the other designs the interns made.

Not everything was technology based.

It wasn’t the only thing in the middle of the maze, they had to enter a code to open the gate to the second half of the maze.

Contemplating his choices, Peter called Shuri over. “Hey, princess. Come here for a sec.”

Shuri stood by his side, expression of pure confusion. Peter held the plush up to her.

“What?”

“Take it. I’m giving it to you.”

Shuri slowly took the plush and turned it over. Stitched onto the bottom of one of the paws was the last name “Parker”, so obviously it made it clear Peter had created it.

“You made this?”

“Yeah, I was bored one day. I guess Tony put it here because one or both of us was going to be coming in this maze, so I can see why he put it here.” Peter shrugged it off but couldn’t help the blush on his cheeks when Shuri continued to hold it.

She didn’t make any movements or indications that she didn’t like it.

Peter was also one hundred percent sure that Harley and Tina would never let him live it down. Chloe would also tease him about when he and Shuri were getting together.

“So, we need a code.” Shuri walked towards the gate, still clutching the plush.

“Yeah, any ideas?” Peter stood on the other side of the gate, looking at it closely in case there was an obvious sign of what a clue to the code was.

There wasn’t, but it was worth a shot.

“How many digits?” Peter asked, standing upright, and stretched slightly – noticing Shuri’s gaze flicker towards him and linger for longer than what would be considered appropriate. “That would definitely limit our choices.”

“Five.” Shuri explained and inputted two codes right after she said it. “Well, they didn’t work.”

An eye roll. “If this was designed by Tony, he wouldn’t make the code our names.”

“It is always worth a shot, cause what if it was.”

“Okay, okay, I’m not gonna argue with your brilliance.”

“Why does it sound like that is an insult.”

“It’s not an insult. You’re smarter than me, and I’m just acknowledging it.”

Shuri didn’t look like she believed him, but eventually rolled her eyes at him.

It took them about ten minutes before they finally cracked the code. They were only given five chances, which meant they had to be very careful about what they inputted it. Also, Shuri had wasted two chances with using their names, but they both were able to figure it out.

Karen.

The code was Karen.

Peter didn’t know how to feel about Tony using his AI’s name as a code, and a part of him felt pretty proud that he impressed Tony that much that he liked Karen as much as he could.

Of course, Shuri wasn’t going to let it go.

“It had to be a fucking name, didn’t it?”

“Shuri.”

“No, I will not stop complaining.”

“Shuri.”

“Now we are back in the dark, with Bast knows what.”

“Shuri.”

“What if there is a serial killer?!”

“Shuri, we are at a fair.”

“Have you seen those clowns that have been walking around?”

“Fair enough.”

“What if we die here?”

“Shuri!”

“What?!”

“Look, we are fine.”

Shuri paused, eyes trying to focus in the darkness. She didn’t know exactly where Peter was, sadly not having the same enhanced senses that T’Challa had. They would be very useful right about now. While his senses weren’t really heightened, they gave him better night vision, and Shuri kind of hoped that being the daughter of a Black Panther she also had that.

She didn’t, and man was she not impressed.

However, one thing stood out to her like a lighthouse.

“You called me Shuri.”

She couldn’t see Peter’s reaction but could hear his footsteps falter.

“Yeah, well…I dunno…I figured we are friends, and you call me Peter.”

“Why did you never call me Shuri before?”

Silence, and for a moment Shuri thought Peter had walked away from her, leaving her alone. Her hands clutched the plush harder, feeling the smooth metal of the necklace that imitated T’Challa’s own.

“Because,” so Peter hadn’t abandoned her, “I just…I wanted to remind you about your privileges. It was a stupid reason, but I kept to it because no-one asked why I only called you princess. Many just thought I was being respectful.”

Peter laughed uneasily. “Even though I was calling you princess in a manner that definitely wasn’t respectful. I felt bad, but I did it for so long and so often that it was a habit I couldn’t easily shake. I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be.” Shuri muttered, trying to walk towards Peter, thankful that the darkness hid her blush. It was way to intimate for her liking, and somehow it didn’t bother her. “But, we do need to get out of this maze.”

“Yeah.” Peter said, but considering how dark it was, Shuri walked straight into him.

Spluttering, Shuri held her hand up that wasn’t holding the toy to rest on Peter’s upper chest. Both teenagers tensed, especially since Shuri’s hand didn’t move instantly away. It seemed like she was very deliberately keeping it on him.

“Princess?” Peter whispered, concern and confusion lacing his tone.

They couldn’t see each other’s eyes, and the princess was aware that if there were any night vision cameras and someone saw this then it would be humiliating. Pursing her lips, Shuri wondered if she was making the wrong choice.

A hand rest on her shoulder, as if Peter didn’t know what to do with it.

Shuri surged forward and up slightly, her lips brushing against Peter’s cheek, and she could feel him freeze.

She pulled back. “Thank you, Peter.”

“Uh…” Peter rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re welcome, Shuri.”

 

T’Challa huffed, resting on the fence as he waited for his sister and Peter to return. They didn’t have a tricky one, but the maze was difficult to navigate.

Nakia rested beside T’Challa. “Shuri will be fine.”

T’Challa huffed. “What about Peter? I know Shuri is fine, but what about him? I don’t fully trust him.”

“Yet, you let him be with Shuri alone, even though you know she has a crush on him.” Nakia raised an eyebrow, leaning towards her boyfriend. “Come on, T’Challa, just because they are teenagers doesn’t mean they’ll do something stupid.”

“You sound as though you know Peter Parker.”

“Well…” Nakia’s eyed sparkled. “Let’s just say I know him more than you do, at least. So, I also know that both will be fine, and Shuri is probably safer with Peter.”

Before T’Challa could ask for clarification, Shuri and Peter came running up, laughter echoing around them.

“Great, I can only imagine what got them into fits of laughter.” T’Challa grumbled.

“T’Challa, king, your highness.” Peter skidded to a halt, and T’Challa could see Nakia giggling – he would have to question her later. “I have a serious question for you.”

T’Challa took a deep breath, to put on his serious, duty face. “Go ahead.”

Peter managed to somehow have a straight face. “Whenever something happens, do you ever go “Wakandan nonsense is this” or do you just sit in a box?”

“Oh, he sits in a box.” Nakia teased, causing T’Challa to splutter, breaking his façade.

“Nakia!”

“You can’t let people live lies, T’Challa. He needs to know the truth.”

Peter and Shuri both laughed as T’Challa could only stare at Nakia with a look that screamed betrayal.

Tony and Rhodey just merely stared at the teenagers, who began chatting about vines and quoting them.

Rhodey leaned over to Tony. “So…This wasn’t you plan was it?”

“I’m just as confused as you, honey bear.”

Peter exclaimed. “Don’t fuck with me!”

Shuri continued. “I have the power of God and Anime on my side!”

T’Challa let out a loud whine. “Oh no…There’s two of them now!”


	25. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final calm before the storm, featuring Bug Boys (Neither are actually bugs, but shhh)
> 
> I finished this chapter a lot faster than I was expecting.
> 
> FRIDAY is taking a break from the compound for now

Peter glanced out the window as Happy drove the car down the busy roads of New York. Karen was laying on the chair beside him. Her tail twitching, making it obvious she hadn’t turned off and was just merely resting.

May had allowed Peter to go to that Stark’s house to hang out with Harley (to a degree) and work on his hoverboards. Thor and Bruce wanted Peter to still keep them a secret, but Peter wasn’t sure if he’d be able to achieve that. Perhaps he would, but it would be difficult for him to manage his words when normally he hated watching his words.

That was definitely a Stark thing.

Peter blinked in confusion. “Mr Hogan?” Happy made a noise of acknowledgement. “Where are we going?”

“The Avengers Compound. That is where boss, Ms Potts and Harley are.” Happy explained.

Peter slowly nodded.

The Avengers compound…Who else was going to be there?

Rhodey? Most likely. Scott? Likely. Hope? Very likely. Laura and her kids? Peter thought he heard that they did also live in the compound. Natasha? He barely saw the Black Widow, which meant she might not be there.

Settling into the seat, Peter could only watch as the environment flew past outside.

Regardless, he’ll look on the bright side of this experience.

Peter adjusted his bag and looked at the entrance hall. Karen stood by his side, tail curling around his leg.

“So? Where is everyone?” Karen looked up at her boss, sounding confused.

Peter opened his mouth but was soon interrupted by another AI that wasn’t familiar to him. “Hello, you must be Peter Parker and his AI, Karen.”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Peter nodded. “Can I ask for your name?”

“Jocasta.” The female voice explained. “I have already informed boss of your arrival.”

Karen sat down, tail flicking across the shiny floor, and seemed to sniff in indignation. “This place is too clean. I don’t like it.”

Jocasta spoke again, sounding slightly amused. “The public areas are much cleaner than the living quarters.”

Peter shifted. “Jocasta…Can you…Can you lead me to the kitchen? I only had breakfast and it’s after lunch already.”

“Of course.” Orange lights lit up. “You will just need to follow the orange lights, and you will reach your destination.”

Peter and Karen began walking, but Happy took his bags. The indication that they would be taken to his room, so he doesn’t need to worry about them. The compound felt like a maze, a maze with large corridors but a maze regardless. Karen’s eyes were glowing, and Peter knew she was getting a map of the layout, and he was tempted to let Karen walk around by herself.

Except…Peter wasn’t sure who was in the compound. Anyone who didn’t know Karen may view her as a threat, and she was still unable to flip between her hawk and cat forms quickly. Tony would need to help Peter with that issue, or perhaps he just needed to be cautious and careful with her.

Getting a can of coke, that Jocasta said that he was allowed to have, Peter cracked it open to have a drink while trying to find something to eat.

Peter’s senses kicked into overdrive, forcing him to pause and look around the seemingly empty kitchen.

Eyes flicking around the room, he spotted sight of something sitting on top of the bookshelf, a part of him wanted to throw something at Scott—he was still bitter over the airport fight—he restrained himself. Scott didn’t know Peter could see him and he’d like to keep it that way for as long as possible.

This was why Peter was hesitant to come to the compound.

He was on edge enough being in a new area, but here he felt as though he had to constantly use his sense to save his ass.

Scott turned back into a normal sized human, and Peter had to fake a look of surprise. Thankfully, Peter had gotten quite good at those.

“Hey, you must be Peter. Jocasta said you’d be here.” Scott grinned. “Well, I’m Scott Lang, Ant-Man but you probably already knew that.”

“I guessed, by the whole size shifting thing you have going on.” Peter waved his hand, but soon shook Scott’s hand in greeting. The less he suspected Peter was Spiderman the better.

Scott grinned, eyes sparkling. “Say, Peter, do you have a track record with pranks?”

Peter and Karen shared a look, and the AI seemed bored. “Why do you want to know?”

“I want to get back at Rhodes.” Scott explained, nodding his head towards another part of the compound. “So, do you want to join me?”

“I guess I can.” Peter said, acting as if he had to ponder his choice.

He didn’t have too. When it came to pranks, Peter was down for anything.

He wondered how Rhodey would feel about his nephew pranking him alongside Scott, maybe he’ll prank Scott with Rhodey. Make things fair.

Scott grinned and grabbed his own can of coke. “Well, I was going to ask you about a certain super hero.”

“Which one?”

“Spiderman.”

“Why?”

“He’s an insect like me and Hope.”

“Spiders are arachnids. Also, it’s Hope and I.”

“He’s a bug like Hope and I.”

“Spiders are still not really bugs.”

“He’s a creepy crawly, like Hope and I.”

“Are ants creepy crawlies?”

“You know what I mean!”

“Do I?”

Scott let out a loud exclamation of exasperation, while Peter only smirked behind his can. Irritating adults was his favourite thing to do, well irritating the Avengers was his favourite thing to do as Peter Parker and as Spiderman. Peter was definitely more teasing like Spiderman sometimes came off as rude, to a degree.

He wasn’t that much of an asshole.

Sometimes, he tried to tone down the asshole levels.

He really did.

“Scott! Peter!” The said people turned their heads to see Tony Stark walk into the kitchen and look between the two of them. “What is going on here?”

“I was asking Peter about Spiderman.” Scott started, but Peter cut him off.

“Well you said you wanted to see if I know anything about him, but then you called spiders insects when they are arachnids and not that closely related to insects.”

Scott decided to continue as though Peter never spoke. “You see, as another animal themed hero, Hope and I want to know some more about Spiderman, so we can see if we want to team up with him one day.”

Tony didn’t look like he believed Scott, heck Peter didn’t feel like he believed Scott, but his senses were totally relaxed now. That obviously meant that Scott was being honest and had no ulterior motive, which was something Peter was thankful for.

Tony placed his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Well, why don’t I show you to the room you’ll be staying in. It’s part of the guest wing.”

Scott walked beside Tony and eyed Karen who trotted at Peter’s heel.

Karen hissed. “What are you looking at, bug boy?”

“Nothing.” Scott squeaked, obviously not expecting her attitude.

Once entering the guest wing, Scott cheered. “Hey! Your room is opposite mine!”

“Great.” Peter forced himself to try and smile.

After getting Peter settled into his room, Scott poked his head in to see Peter working on a code. Must be Karen’s code, Scott figured.

“Hey, Peter, can we talk?” Peter glanced up at him.

“Sure. About what?”

Scott hung in the doorway and glanced up at the ceiling. Peter raised an eyebrow as Scott asked Jocasta to turn off for the guest wing. She did, even if it seemed as though she wasn’t impressed.

“Scott?”

“What is your relationship with Tony?” Scott asked, eyes focusing on Peter with something that Peter couldn’t identify properly.

As though Scott was trying to figure out a difficult puzzle.

“He’s my boss, I’m an intern who just so happens to be friends with Harley, who is his pseudo son. That’s all.” Peter shrugged, turning back to the code.

Scott glanced across the room and saw the hawk form Karen took when Peter was on patrol.

He pointed towards it. “That looks like the hawk I sometimes see with Spiderman at night. Before you ask how I know, let’s just say Hope and I like to explore at night.”

Peter paused, staring at his hands and they twitched. Tension rose in his body.

“Peter, what aren’t you telling us?” Scott asked, confusion and curiosity from his tone gnawing at Peter’s body.

The teenager jumped up and used the web shooters that he rarely took off to shut the blinds on the window, before pointing his finger at Scott. Without meaning too, flames danced along his finger tip.

“There is a lot about me none of you know.” Peter spoke, voice deeper and almost colder than what Scott was expecting.

“You’re Spiderman.” Scott stated, his eyes never moving from the fire. “You can create fire, like Pepper can. Do you have extremis?”

Peter shook his head. “Not extremis.” Taking a deep breath, Peter explained. “A radioactive venomous spider bit me a while back. I gained spider abilities once my body adjusted to the introduction of a new DNA.”

Scott tilted his head as he sat down on the chair Peter had evacuated. “The fire?”

“I made friends with wizards.” Peter looked down, lowering his hand and quenching the flame. “That’s a story I don’t want to explain.”

“I won’t push it.” Scott promised, and suddenly Peter remembered that Scott has a child of his own.

Peter felt as though he could relax more around him for that reason and collapsed on his bed. “You…You promise to not tell anyone?”

“I promise.” Scott swore.

Peter looked up, tears prickling his eyes and it caused the parental instincts in Scott to kick into gear. Scott bounded over to the bed, and sat beside him, wrapping an arm around Peter in an attempt to ease his tears. “Pete…”

Peter chocked on a sob. “I can’t…I can’t take it!”

“You can’t take what?”

Scott sounded like a father, someone who was used to children breaking down in tears around him. He knew what to do, something that most adults Peter met didn’t know how to deal with. The older hero wasn’t making Peter feel weak or inadequate, but merely held him to ground him while ensuring Peter was in control.

Peter sniffed, and tried to ease his crying, as Scott’s hand rubbed his back.

“It’s…it’s Tony and Pepper…”

“What about them? Did they do something to you?” Scott sounded worried, and angry.

It must be a parental thing to get protective of any child or teenager who says that why they are crying is because of an adult.

“If you count them being my parents.” Peter mumbled.

Scott spluttered, reeling back. “Wait…What? Repeat that?”

Peter hung his head. “I…They don’t know I’m their son. I was taken from them by my adoptive parents, who I called aunt and uncle, at a young age. My life was in danger, and I was raised to know who my parents were in case I wanted to tell them the truth.”

“And you haven’t.” Scott said, placing an arm around Peter’s shoulders.

“No.” Peter shook his head.

Scott only wrapped his arms around Peter and pulled him close. “Hey, Peter…It’s alright. Everything will turn out alright in the end.”

 

Harley had hugged Peter briefly, and so did Pepper. Peter remembered what Scott had said earlier that day.

Even if they didn’t know he was their son, it would be fine. He could live with that.

Harley and Peter entered the kitchen, Harley rapidly asking Peter about his favourite movies and TV shows. Peter constantly referred to some movies as “really old” if only just to annoy Tony, who kept complaining that he wasn’t old.

“I’m not that old.” Tony grumbled.

Peter raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you almost fifty?” When Tony bristled, Peter continued. “Or was it sixty? I can’t remember.”

Tony spluttered, turning around in defiance.

It just made Peter laugh loudly at Tony’s betrayed look.

“Peter, I thought I could trust you.”

“You thought wrong, old man.”

“Obviously. I can’t believe I’ve been betrayed by my favourite kid.”

Peter felt his heart flip slightly at that statement. “Watch it, we can’t have Harley hearing you say that.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “So, do you know how to cook, or are you just going to stand there and be a nuisance?”

Peter felt his body light up. “Wait? I can really help you cook?”

“Your aunt said you are a capable chef.” Tony explained, turning away. “So?”

Peter hesitated but saw Scott from a bookshelf shoot him a thumbs up. “Sounds good.”

Peter couldn’t hear Scott, but now with Scott knowing his senses allowed Peter to see him when he was small gave Peter a sense of relief. He didn’t need to try and hide it from everyone.

Scott did say that Hope could probably figure out his secrets from Scott, as she can read through his every lie.

Peter decided that it was fine and alright. As long as Hope knew it was meant to be a secret. 

 

Scott and Hope dragged Peter around the compound, and once everyone was outside the two male bug heroes decided to sit on top of the compound. The wind blowing their hair into their faces.

They watched everyone below them.

“Does it bother you about Tony and Pepper with their relationship with Harley?”

“Sort of.” Peter pulled his knees to his chest. Karen flew around the compound, testing her wings. “It did at first, I’ve grown accustomed to it.”

Scott leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. “I’m a father, Pete. Believe me when I say this. Tony and Pepper look at you and speak of you the same way I speak of Cassie.”

Peter turned his head to look at Scott.

“They may not know they are your parents, but parents never forget their children. Subconsciously, parents will always know who their child is even if they haven’t seen them in years.” Scott smiled as the sky seemed to clear up. “Also, we should probably get down before Tony, Pepper and Rhodey freak out about me dragging you up here.”

“I’ll be fine.” Peter muttered, looking away in teenage dramatics.

Scott laughed. “I know that, but they don’t know that.” As Scott stood up, he looked at Peter with a curious look. “If you don’t mind me asking, what is your real name?”

Peter paused. “Zayden. Zayden James Stark.”

“Well then, Zayden. Let’s go inside for dessert and movie night. You and Harley are going to have a busy day tomorrow testing the hoverboard you’ve made.”

Peter only laughed. “Yeah. Yeah, it will be a busy day for sure.”


	26. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> End of Act 2 (Act 3 starts next chapter, but I'm not sure if I should split that act into two or leave it as one large 20 or so chapter act)
> 
> The beginning of the end for this story (before the next story anyway).
> 
> There will be a while before the next chapter comes out (So I can catch up on all of my uni work)

Peter groaned, and curled back into his bed, eyes shutting tighter as light began to infiltrate his eyelids.

“Pete.” A voice sounded along with a shake of his shoulder.

Peter grumbled, eyes blinking open. The room was full of light, even though he doubted it was that late in the morning. His eyes slid shut once more with a pained whine.

“Peter, come on. Wake up. It’s eight am. I already let you sleep in.”

That voice obviously belonged to Tony. Peter huffed and forced his eyes open. The light was still very blinding, and a hiss escaped his throat, holding his hand up to shield his sensitive eyes from it.

“What? Is it too bright?” Tony asked.

Peter wanted to snap but could only turn his head away from the light. The child longing inside him made him curl closer to Tony—which he did—and rest his head on his father’s chest. Tony tensed but placed a hand on Peter’s back and rubbed soothing circles through his shirt.

“Hey, hey, it’s fine. Jocasta can you dim the lights and draw the curtains fully, please.”

“Right away, boss.”

Peter mumbled. “She isn’t Friday.”

“Nor is she Karen.” Tony agreed.

A huff, as Peter found his eyes adjusting.

“Does that happen a lot?” Tony asked, worry coating his voice more than Peter ever desired.

“Yeah…It’s over stimulation.”

“I know. Do you know why it happens?” Tony pressed, checking Peter’s face to ensure that the light wasn’t hurting him anymore.

“Genetics?” Peter tilted his head. “I think, I don’t know fully. I think it began happening last year, so I can’t say for certain what caused it.”

Tony nodded, and slowly stood up, letting Peter stretch and wake up fully. “Well, come down for breakfast soon. I think Harley is going to be bouncing off the walls in anticipation to actually test the hoverboard.”

Suddenly Peter leaped out of bed. “Oh yeah! I forgot we were doing that today!”

A laugh escaped Tony’s lips as he watched Peter stumbled after him.

“You have the grace of a new born fawn.” Tony’s eyes sparkled. “You are Bambi.”

Peter scowled. “I’m not Bambi!”

A grin was his only response.

Peter huffed. “I will not answer to Bambi.”

“Yes, you will.” Tony laughed loudly.

Peter wanted to argue but just huffed and looked out the large wall windows that they were walking past. The scenery was really pretty, he figured it was a good getaway from busy New York. You could feel as though you could relax and take your time instead of always being in a rush.

However, a lingering feeling in the back of his mind warned him that something was off. Peter chose to ignore it to have some good times. 

 

Pepper had worried over Peter when she saw him. Apparently, he looked like shit. Rhodey and Scott both sent him looks, the only ones who knew the truth about Peter for now.

Harley had acted as though he was annoyed by Pepper not paying him attention, but anyone could tell he was relieved Pepper had someone else to dote on. That someone just happened to be her own son, go figure.

Well, Peter’s life was never straight forward or normal anyway.

Breakfast had been relatively uneventful. Scott decided to make pancakes of everyone, there was Iron Man, fire, Harley, Peter, an ant, a wasp, War Machine, Happy, and a Spiderman one. Scott then went on about how awesome Spiderman was, while constantly asking Peter for his input.

“Which part of New York do you live in, kid?”

“Queens.”

“See, Spiderman operates there mostly. Certainly, you know more about him than we do.”

“He is an enigma.”

“No one is an enigma.”

Everyone else had their own inputs of Spiderman, and thankfully all of them were good ones. Ned would flip if Peter told him he was having breakfast with some Avengers.

Look, Thor and Bruce may also be Avengers, but they never had breakfast with Peter and Ned (that road trip didn’t count).

Peter texted Ned about his situation. He wasn’t expecting a text back, Ned was overseas in the Philippines because his father got tickets from his boss. Peter hoped Ned was enjoying his trip.

 

Harley and Peter collapsed on the couch, and Harley quickly pulled out Mario Kart. “Have you played the newest version yet?”

“Nope.” Peter said, before his cheeks flushed. “Harley, my aunt and I would be lucky to afford anything more than the necessities.”

Tony looked at Pepper who gave him a stern look.

“No, Tony. We can’t.”

“He’s…He’s our…Intern…” The word tasted like poison on Tony’s tongue for a reason he either didn’t know or was forcing himself to ignore. “I don’t want to force him to accept some more money from the internship. Perhaps only like an extra couple of dollars.”

Pepper shook her head. “The other interns…”

Tony became desperate. “They won’t know! Perhaps even Peter won’t. May is lovely, she deserves to be able to know that she and Peter can treat themselves and have the money to do so.”

Pepper frowned and glanced at Peter who was currently beating Harley on Mario Kart. Scott and Hope were sprawled out on the loveseat. Cooper, Lila and Cassie had also joined the older teenagers and played Mario Kart with them. Rhodey wasn’t in the room, being a liaison often meant he couldn’t relax anymore as much as he wanted to.

A sigh. “Are you going to tell them?”

“No, they’ll deny help.” Tony said. “But, I want to help them. That is one of my biggest flaws, is because I like to help others, except they deserve my help.” Tony looked down. “I’ll say, I don’t think we deserve Peter as our intern. May is lucky to have him as her nephew, he’s a great kid.”

Pepper nodded. “That he is. Okay, but nothing too extremely. Maybe two or three extra dollars. That can accumulate up over time.”

Tony smiled and kissed her softly. “You are the best, Pepper.” He ducked his head and whispered. “I just wish we still had Zayden.”

“I know.” Pepper ran her fingers through Tony’s hair. “I miss him every day, as well, Tony. I hope Zayden is safe and alive and has grown into a fine young man.”

Peter glanced back at Tony and Pepper. 

Scott hummed, twirling Hope’s hair around his fingers. Zayden did grow into a fine young man, one you can be proud of. You do have Zayden, you just don’t know it yet.

Peter met Scott’s eyes and looked at the ground.

 

Harley and Peter trekked out of the house before lunch, both eager to test how well the hoverboard worked without it being in an enclosed room.

“I wonder how well it will work.” Harley almost squealed, bouncing along Peter.

Peter was suddenly hit with their height difference. It didn’t seem like much at first, but Peter could clearly see over Harley’s head. Having Harley bounding after Peter gave the impression that Peter’s legs were just much longer than Harley’s were, and that was probably the case.

While Scott and Rhodey both told him that he looks exactly like a perfect blend between Pepper and Tony, his height came from neither of them. Very clearly it was another factor making him so tall, and that factor was probably his spider DNA.

“Well, I think it work incredibly well.” Peter nodded. “We worked too hard on this for it to just fail.”

“It failed before.” Harley pointed out.

Karen chirped, as she flew beside Peter’s head. “He’s right you know.”

Peter rolled his eyes and huffed. “Well, that was because it wasn’t even finished. This is pretty much finished, we just need to test it.”

“I hope you two know what you are doing.” Karen mumbled, staring at the boys.

Harley puffed out his chest. “Of course, we do. Tony and Pepper would not have let us out of the house alone with the hoverboard if they didn’t trust us to know what we are doing.”

“Fair enough.” Karen agreed before flying back towards the compound. “Look, I’ll be at the compound. Try not to go too far. Tony and Pepper would like the two of you to be in sight.”

Peter shot a look to Harley. “Well, we’ll try to stay close, no promises with this guy with me.”

“Hey!” Harley exclaimed, pushing Peter’s shoulder. “I take offence to that statement.”

“I would be concerned if you didn’t.” Peter teased, pushing him back but obviously softer.

Karen disappeared over the trees, and soon the teenagers were racing each other to an empty field with no trees directly nearby.

Harley paused in a field and grinned at Peter. “This is the perfect spot.”

Peter frowned. “We are quite a bit from the compound.”

“We’ll be fine.” Harley reassured Peter.

However, Peter felt less reassured when his mind began to whine louder with the feeling of a threat near them.

They’ll be fine, won’t they? They were in one of the safest places on Earth.

 

Karen perched on the windowsill and looked at Tony and Pepper. “What are you two working on?”

“The Accords, again.” Tony muttered. “Rhodey was but he deserves a break and it’s been a while since I last looked at it.”

Karen grumbled. “Last time you worked on them, you didn’t seem impressed with me. With me!”

Tony blinked at her. “You remind me of Jarvis and Friday.”

“Hey!” Karen squawked. “Speaking of which, where is Vision?”

“Mission. Just to navigate a hostage situation. Nothing too serious, but there was a security system and Vision offered to go yesterday morning. He’ll be back tonight.”

Karen seemed fine with that answer and looked at Pepper who was working on…something related to Stark Industries.

“Stocks.” Tony said, understanding Karen’s look. “We want to see how sales are going, and it isn’t that straight forward.”

“I can’t do that.” Karen sniffed, looking away from the numbers.

She was thankful that Peter hadn’t decided to pursue a business path. He could do it, he did have the brains for anything, but he was focusing on the sciences. Business was too restrictive as he said, also he finds business quite tedious.

But if you gave him something business related, and he had to work on it, he could finish it within three hours, give or take depending on what it is that he must do.

Karen spoke up. “Doesn’t business bore you?”

“Yes.” Tony replied at the same time Pepper said, “no”.

Pepper rolled her eyes. “Anthony, we know you find the business side of a business boring. You made me CEO.”

Tony shook his head. “I made you CEO because you are more competent than I am in that department.”

“At least you understand that.” Pepper laughed.

Karen watched the couple, it was peaceful, in fact these past few days had been very peaceful in retrospect to their lives. It must be nice to not worry about your life, even if you still do. No huge threats were making an appearance.

It was only a matter of time before something happened.

 

Peter jumped off the hoverboard and watched as the board lowered itself closer to the ground. Harley eyed it before turning to Peter.

“Hey, Pete. Can you help me up?” He asked, voice shaking slightly.

Peter bit his lip. “Harley, you don’t need to test it if you are scared. We can pack it up and go somewhere we are safer. I think I can take more damage than you can, my reflexes are also faster.”

Harley looked uneasy, but he then firmly shook his head, an expression of determination settled on his face. “No, I want to give it a go.”

“Alright then.”

Peter shifted and grabbed Harley’s hand, raising it as Harley also placed his other hand on the hoverboard. It was still low to the ground, but Harley just needed an extra boast up onto it.

Harley shifted, struggling to balance. Peter hoped that the hoverboard would steady itself out, so he didn’t need to worry about Harley falling and slamming his head onto the ground. The soil wasn’t the softest thing around, Peter would know from his experience in falling towards the ground.

Harley clutched Peter’s hand tighter as he began to stand up straight, and the elder let go slightly to allow Harley to balance himself without falling off.

Harley grinned broadly. “I am doing it! It’s like surfing!”

“A bit.” Peter agreed, though he hadn’t gone surfing before and wasn’t sure if Harley had ever gone surfing himself.

Suddenly a sliver of cold water ran down his spine. Whipping his head around, Peter eyed the tree lines.

Something was here with him and Harley.

But what?

Harley shifted, eyes looking at Peter closely. “Pete…What is it?” He looked around. “I can’t hear anything.”

“That’s the point.” Peter hissed.

It was silent.

Not even a peep from a bird. The wind through the leaves and bushes was the only noise that surrounded them. Not even the rustling of squirrels or mice could be heard, no sticks fell or snapped, and no leaves drifted through the air.

The silence was startling.

It was so different to the noisier compound.

Suddenly, Peter realised that he and Harley were quite a fair distance from the compound. While Peter could still hear it, it was fainter and less concentrated.

“It’s too quiet.” Peter murmured, Harley shifting slightly from side to side.

He didn’t want to fall off, but that might be safer than him being on the hoverboard.

Peter suddenly jumped, and turned to face Harley, his words barely escaping his lips. “Harley!”

Something was in the bushes, and Peter heard a high-pitched whistling noise. Peter could not warn the younger in time, before the dart struck Harley in the neck.

Peter tried to leap forward to reach him, guilt eating at his throat for not being capable of warning Harley in time. However, he got distracted from another figure that also had a dart.

Until it also struck him in the neck.

Peter staggered, his body working on driving out the unknown substance from his blood, making him feel queasy. Whatever it was, was strong enough to knock his metabolism down. Harley fell from the hoverboard and Peter felt bile rise up in his throat.

If it could knock him down, what would it do to Harley.

Peter felt his head hit the grass, his eyes still focused on the unmoving teenager. His eyes and ears couldn’t tell if Harley was still breathing, but he prayed that he was. He would never forgive himself if Harley died, especially on his watch.

 

Red Skull and two Hydra workers walked out into the grassy field. The hoverboard has fallen to the ground, useless, and Red Skull was impressed with what they had done but that was not why they were here.

Red Skull raised the sceptre and tilted his head. “Make sure they don’t wake up. I’d rather not deal with struggling teenagers, especially an enhanced one.”

“Yes, sir.” They picked up Peter and Harley and ensured that the two weren’t responding to them moving them from the grass and into the van.

The sceptre glowed, and Red Skull pointed it in front of him.

An image flickered before taking the shape of Ebony Maw.

“Red Skull.”

“Ebony Maw do not fear, everything is coming along together well.” Red Skull raised his chin in an act of defiance.

Ebony Maw narrowed his eyes, his voice darkening. “Do not push your position, mortal. You are lucky my father decided to spare you, as he does not take fondly towards mortals who desire the power he craves.”

Red Skull merely blinked, not affected by Ebony Maw’s words. “Who has your sceptre, Ebony Maw? I do. I can boast if I want to boast.”

“Do as you wish.” Ebony Maw snarled. “But do not kill the spider child. Thanos has plans for him. He is young, easily swayed by promises that won’t be broken.”

Red Skull narrowed his eyes slightly before forcing his face to relax. “What about the other kid?”

“Keep him alive. Perhaps the spider boy will be more willing to do as you wish if you threaten to kill him.” Ebony Maw hummed. “Remember, deliver the child to us.”

The image faded out, leaving Red Skull glaring at the now empty place.

“Boss?”

“Keep them alive, make sure they end up in cells next to each other.”

Red Skull looking at the compound. “I need Spiderman for a friend of mine.”

 

Hope poked her head around the door to look at Tony and Pepper. “Dinner is ready.”

Pepper paused. “Already?” She looked confused. “Did Peter and Harley come for lunch?”

Scott hovered behind Hope. “I was going to ask you if you had seen them.”

Tony paused. “Wait…You mean they haven’t been seen since breakfast.”

Karen looked out the window.

Scott stepped forward, body bristling. “You let them out of your sight? Tony, they might be teenagers, but they are still kids.”

“Scott.” Hope hissed quietly. “It isn’t their fault.”

“They are their responsibility. If anything happened to them, it’s your fault.” Scott hissed, eyes narrowing.

Karen huffed out and took flight in front of Tony and Pepper. “I’ll go and find the boys and tell them that dinner is ready.”

Pepper smiled. “Thank you, Karen.”

Hope looked uncertain. “Yeah, they probably got distracted and side tracked.”

Jocasta opened one of the windows and allowed the hawk robot to fly out to get the boys.

They were both certainly hungry, especially Peter. Tony and Pepper didn’t need to know about his enhanced metabolism. Not yet at least, not until Peter tells them that he is Spiderman.

The air was calm, and Karen couldn’t hear any chatter from the boys. Something made her worried, it wasn’t like Harley and Peter to be so silent. While Harley was quieter, they both tended to ramble and get really loud when talking about something that they were excited about.

However, she was only greeted with a hoverboard.

Karen almost let out a gasp, as she noticed a lack of two male teenagers in the field near the compound. If AIs could feel dread and fear, Karen was certain she’d feel it.

There was no reason for Peter and Harley to not be in the field.

All they were trying to do was test out a hoverboard.

What happened to them?

Karen swooped lowly to try and find anything that indicated a scuffle, or the boys had wandered off. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

However, something caught her eye.

Two tranquilizer darts were lying on the ground, slightly covered in dirt. They were easy to miss, and Karen caught herself just above them.

Her talons picked up the two darts. Whoever had taken the two boys had been stupid enough to leave traces of their actions.

If there was one person who could find them, it was Tony Stark. Karen was also going to help him in any way she could. That was her boss and his new friend that had been taken.

She almost growled. Whoever it was would not be able to forget the idiocy of taking the two boys, especially if Tony Stark had anything to do with it.

 

Peter woke up, the smell of blood hitting his nose and almost made him throw up.

His eyes focused on someone with pale pastry skin. Eyes were unnaturally bright blue, that made Peter’s hair stand on end, but looking down he realised that there were chains around her wrists and ankles—binding him to his position.

“You’re awake.” The voice was high pitched, unnatural and nerve wracking. “Now we can begin.”


	27. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter of Act 3 has come!!!
> 
> Not everything is as it seems, and this chapter holds some very important details about Peter (and the Infinity Stones). This information will actually be important for my Infinity War compliant story (Well as compliant as i can get it anyway).
> 
> Shit has just begun to hit the fan.

“Fuck!” Tony slammed his fist into the wall.

A crack echoed around him as he was certain that he must have damaged his fist from doing that. The pain was numb compared to the fear and worry that had flooded every single one of Tony’s nerves when Karen had returned with two tranquiliser darts and a report that Peter and Harley had been kidnapped.

That was three days ago now.

There was nothing on them.

The police were alerted along with any nearby heroes.

T’Challa was also informed, as he knew both teenagers, and Shuri would be very helpful in their search. Except…Nothing.

They kept coming up with dead ends. Lead in circles, or just finding red herrings. Peter and Harley seemed to have just vanished off the face of the planet.

“They have to be somewhere.” Tony muttered, running his fingers through his hair.

Scott was more worried than Tony took him credit for. In fact, Tony swore he heard Karen tell Scott that the tranquilisers would’ve badly damaged Harley if they were able to knock Peter out.

An enhanced metabolism?

That would explain his appetite for dinner and breakfast. Tony chose to ignore the voice that whispered in his head that those meals were the only meals Peter had with them. That statement sent Tony into feeling miserable even more than he did before.

Tony collapsed onto a chair and leaned his head back. He should not be in charge of any children. His own son was taken from right under his nose, a kid almost died at his Expo (Hammer drones were the cause but still), and now Harley and Peter were kidnapped with no leads of their whereabouts.

Harley’s mother hadn’t gotten back to him after he told her, Tony wasn’t even sure if she really liked her son. May, on the other hand, had reacted the way a parent should react upon hearing that their child has been taken.

The door opened, and Tony didn’t need to look to know it was Rhodey and Pepper coming to check up on him.

Pepper laid her hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Love, we’ll find the boys.”

“Hydra took them.” Tony spoke, his voice was low. “And there are no leads.”

His wife pressed her head into his shoulder. “Tony, there are always leads if you know where to look.”

Tony groaned, rubbing his face. “Karen has been working non-stop trying to figure out her own clues.” His voice dropped in dejection. “How can we find them? This is like Zayden’s kidnapping all over again.”

Tony and Pepper missed Rhodey’s expression change into shock and unease, who also shifted where he was standing. If they saw him they would’ve seen the conflicted expression on his face.

Rhodey wanted to tell them that Peter is Zayden, but he seriously doubted that would be helpful at all. In fact, it might make everything worse overall. He still made a promise to Peter that under no circumstances should he tell Tony and Pepper, maybe…Just maybe things would be better if they never figured out that Peter is Zayden.

Maybe his life would be easier if he didn’t know they were the same person.

 

Karen landed on a fence as she stared out across the land beyond the Avengers compound. Scott and Hope had gone to speak to May, Hope as a kickass fighter and Scott as a parent who could offer May support. The AI hated leaving May alone for long periods of time, but she needed to find Peter. And Harley.

Karen heard Friday connect to her, which was thankful.

Jocasta and Friday had been swapped after the kidnapping of Harley and Peter. Jocasta was stationed with Stark Industries while Friday had returned to the Avengers.

“Boss is not doing well.” Friday sounded worried.

After hanging out with Karen, and Peter, Friday had begun to sound more human with ranging emotions. “I know. Friday…I can’t find any clues. I need to go further.”

Friday protested. “You can’t, what if something happens to you? We need you to help us track them.”

“I’ll be fine.” Karen insisted, wings stretching out.

Friday said nothing, and Karen hesitated. No, Peter is her boss. She shot up into the sky, she needed to find out where he went. 

 

May hadn’t stopped crying all that much since she heard of Peter’s disappearance. Valkyrie had wrapped her arms around the shaking woman, scowling at Loki, Thor, Bruce and Stephen who had no idea of how to comfort a grieving parent, let alone a crying female.

Valkyrie hissed. “Are you going to be doing something helpful?”

Thor hesitated in the doorway, May had fallen asleep and was reluctant to intrude on her sleep which she desperately needed.

“Your majesty…”

Thor shook his head and met Valkyrie’s stern gaze. “I will be. The only thing we know for certain is that Peter and Harley are alive, Heimdall saw them after all.”

“Did he see who took them?”

“Hydra.” Thor looked uneasy, the name bringing back unsettling memories. “They are a group of humans who were, still are, out to destroy humanity from the inside out.”

Valkyrie was silent, watching Thor who backed out of the room.

“Loki and Stephen are going to need to talk with me about what we are going to do…” The king ducked his head and walked away.

The image of seeing May appear in the doorway of the sanctum crying and saying that Peter had been kidnapped would probably haunt Thor for a while. He had not expected to get as close to Tony’s son as he did, but perhaps Thor saw more of Tony in the kid than others realised. While Bruce had seen Tony’s overall personality mixed in with Pepper’s, Thor had seen a kid who was his own person while being the best traits of his birth parents.

Thor could see some other traits in Peter, someone who worked on his own but could work well in a team if required to do so. He had a flair for subtle actions, and Thor had to admit the things Tony did for them without telling them was things that he liked the most. The inventor might like to show off, but he did have his moments when you were given something from him that didn’t seem to be from him.

Simple gifts, one of Thor’s favourite hoodies was actually a gift from him after Thor disliked the more formal looking clothes than what he wanted. Tony found out about it and got him a hoodie, the same hoodie he met Stephen Strange in with Loki.

Thor knew full well that Valkyrie could watch over May while all them tried to locate Peter, and his friend Harley. Though that name rang a bell for Thor, and he remembered Tony telling them about a kid he had met before when they were catching up before the whole Ultron debacle.

 

Karen landed on the bench and looked at Pepper who looked tired, eyebags becoming clearer as each day went past. It had been four days since the boys were taken and no-one had had proper rest.

T’Challa had sent out a few Dora Milaje to try and find them in Africa, while Shuri and her lab assistants tried everything they could to find any indication of their whereabouts.

But no-one had found anything.

Pepper sighed. “Tony is asleep, but I doubt it will be for long.”

“They are alive.” Karen said, with no warning. “They are alive, I know it. I may not have access to Peter, nor Harley, but they must be alive for a reason. I don’t think that reason is a good one, but them being alive is a godsend.” Literally, but Karen decided to not tell Pepper about Heimdall.

Pepper looked hopeful. “Really?”

“They must be somewhere either really obvious, or really remote.” Karen continued. “The mountains, underwater, maybe in New York, perhaps underground, near a volcano.” Her wings stretched out. “We need to scour as much land as possible.”

“Should I inform Tony?”

“No, let him rest. Everyone needs rest, and I think today everyone has to rest, take a few deep breaths and attack it again tomorrow.”

Pepper nodded slowly, and she stared at her drink, her appetite gone. For now, but knowing that they are alive made Pepper relax and hope and determination fill her once more.

Karen didn’t bother flying out again. While she might be an AI, she also needed to rest and sort out all the details she had, and the details she received from everyone else. As a moveable AI she was very useful in this search, but she wasn’t.

Because, she had not found them. She wasn’t even close to finding them.

It was something that, if Karen was a living creature, would make her blood turn to ice.

 

Peter opened his eyes, wincing at the pain that shot up his body.

“Fucking hell.”

His eyes adjusted to the very dim lighting to see Harley lurched over, clutching his side, tear tracks staining his cheeks. Peter felt a rush of anger and protectiveness seize his body. How dare someone hurt Harley when they just wanted him? Why don’t they just let Harley go?

“Hello, Peter Parker.” Red Skull had returned once more, one of his henchmen standing behind him. A sadistic smirk adorned his face, which would be creepy enough without the skull appearance.

Peter hissed. “Why are you keeping Harley here?”

Red Skull hummed. “Because we can keep him here.”

Harley’s eyes blinked open blearily. Peter could tell he was trying to focus on him but can’t. What they were doing to Harley was enough to hurt Peter. Harley couldn’t take the same things he could, so why are they doing it to him?

“Let him go!” Peter cried, but knew it was pointless.

They hadn’t done it thus far, so why should they do it now? He was hoping, it was a small hope, that they would let him go.

Red Skull’s face darkened. “Why should we, Zayden James Stark?”

Peter’s blood ran cold.

He could feel Harley’s body tense in shock and surprise.

“How…How do you know my name?” Peter’s voice was a whisper, fear wrapping around his body and tightening making it hard for him to breathe.

Red Skull was the only thing he could focus on and see clearly. He said nothing.

Peter snarled. “I said, how do you know my name?!”

Harley whispered. “Pete…”

“I knew your grandparents, Howard and Maria, and your adoptive parents, Richard and Mary.” Red Skull explained.

“You killed them…” Peter whispered, eyes widening before narrowing.

His body bristled and tensed. His spider DNA coming out, and Peter cried out in pain as he noticed a purple glow emitting from Red Skull’s sceptre.

The power stone.

“What are you doing?!” Peter cried, wounds making their way across his body.

Blood ran down his arms and pooled at his hands, leaving hand prints. Agony forced Peter to scream, his body shifted to try and block out the power from the power stone. Tears ran down his cheeks, splashing loudly against the ground as everything was amplified.

“You can tolerate a lot, Zayden. Is this because you are also Spiderman?” Red Skull tormented.

“Fuck you.” Peter gritted out, trying to open his eyes but seeing a blood drop fall right in front of him.

Red Skull nodded to his henchman, who stepped forward with an electrocution device.

“You don’t want anything to happen to Harley, do you?” Red Skull knew Peter would cave and not have any harm be done to Harley even if he didn’t say it.

When Peter didn’t respond straight away, the device was placed on Harley’s cell wall. Once it flicked on, Harley’s scream echoed around the enclosed area.

“Stop it!” Peter cried, hearing the anguish in Harley’s screams that made his blood boil. “Just stop it! Please, he didn’t do anything to deserve this! If you are going to do anything to anyone, do it to me!”

The device turned off. Harley’s scream was cut off as he slumped over, falling onto the ground. Gasping, Harley tried turning his head to look at Peter, who could only feel the weakening gaze. Glancing over, Peter saw Harley’s eyes slip close.

“Harley! No! Please, try and keep your eyes open for me!” Peter cried, trying to reach over but suddenly a purple glow surrounded him.

Chains curled around his wrists and slammed them into the ground, Peter’s head cracked on the concrete. Peter could hear his blood rushing from the new and fresh wound and could feel the dirt seeping into his body. He could tell it was going to get infected.

Peter kept his eyes on red Skull, his teeth gritting not wanting to give Red Skull the pleasure of knowing he was down.

“Ah, Zayden. I wonder how much of Stark’s fighting spirit you have gained, despite not being raised by a Stark.”

“Fuck you.” Peter spat, a copper taste on his tongue.

He wasn’t sure if it was internal organ damage or blood than had entered his mouth.

“We’ll be back.” Red Skull walked off, after another electrical device was placed on Peter’s cell wall.

Peter could tell that the power was cranked up on his. To keep him immobile, and weak. Surely Red Skull knew that if Peter had full strength he could break out of the cell within a few minutes, either by force or just by his mind.

It was silent, Peter grounding himself after closing his eyes by listening to the rugged breaths of Harley, hearing the rapid beating of his heart.

Something that always creeped Peter out was now settling and soothing in a way that he couldn’t explain.

Harley was alive, albeit hurt and wounded but alive nonetheless.

“I’m sorry.” Harley whispered, voice cracking. “I shouldn’t have dragged us so far from the compound.”

“It’s not your fault…I had a feeling it was a bad idea, but I went along with it.” Peter responded, hearing the heart break in the younger’s voice. “We will get out of here, Harley. I know it.”

Harley could only cry, the scent of tears flooded Peter’s nose. The elder tried not to wince. This was Peter’s fault. Harley was here because he was with Peter. He shouldn’t have been with him. Now Harley is going to suffer because of Peter’s stupidity.

“So…You are Zayden Stark and Spiderman?” Harley asked, his voice so soft and faint.

Peter opened his eyes to meet Harley’s. “Yeah…I am.”

Harley’s finger curled into the dirt. “Please…Please don’t leave me.”

“I’m going nowhere.” Peter insisted, raising his head as much as he could. His vision was getting blurry from the blood loss he had suffered. “Especially not without you.”

Harley’s eyes closed, and his breathing evened out. Peter was thankful that Harley was now asleep. If Red Skull wanted to do anything, he couldn’t do it to him.

A glance at his fingers showed something that surprised Peter.

His hands had shifted, becoming darker with longer fingers. That was what was painful, his body was shifting and changing into something that was more spider than human. Biting his lip, Peter curled in on himself as he felt his body continue to shift.

It was the power stone. It was reacting with the spider DNA and forcing it to become dominant and take over his human features. Blood and tears soaked into the ground, it was an ugly scent.

A sharp pain ran down his back, and he could hear his bones and skin rip. Something was forcing itself out of his back, and Peter feared at it was extra legs. He told Ned he didn’t have extra limbs so don’t give him extra limbs mate!

But the sound was different, it was not legs but something larger and more convenient than four other legs.

It was wings.

They stretched out beside him, they only lasted a couple of beats before they vanished. Peter didn’t need to look behind him to know that his back was ripped open to reveal his spine.

“Why?” Peter bit out, blood running out of his mouth.

“Will you do as we say?” Red Skull asked.

“Never!” Peter snarled.

Harley screamed, jerking out of his sleep as his body shook with the electricity. Peter froze, eyes widening, realising that Hydra was using Harley to get him to work for him.

Peter clenched his eyes and hands shut. “Fine! Fine! I’ll do what you want, just stop hurting him!”

Harley’s body fell limp.

“Well, we better get started, shouldn’t we?”

Peter nodded. I’m so sorry, Harley. I just don’t want you to be hurt because of me.

 

Valkyrie kicked her Pegasus’ rump and it neighed loudly before taking off in flight.

She had not been able to focus since Peter had vanished. While he was now a good fighter, if someone wanted him dead and knew he was Spiderman and Zayden, then she was worried about the outcome of this.

Wings flapping as the wind pushed Valkyrie’s hair out of her face, Pegasus lowered closer to the ground.

Before she could think of doing anything, and turn back towards New York, something struck Pegasus. It nickered, trying to right itself as it fell towards the ground. Valkyrie was able to pull the arrow out of its side and could get it to land safely.

Valkyrie drew out her sword and looked around. “Who’s there? Show yourself!”

A figure slipped towards her.

Valkyrie lowered her sword and blinked in confusion. “Peter?”


	28. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a while to write, and in fact was cut short (because the final scene crept up before I could stop it).
> 
> A little more telling - and maybe you can figure out some key details.

Thor growled. “What happened to her?”

Stephen muttered. “I don’t know. It’s not from something from Earth, that is for certain.”

“She muttered ‘Peter’, do you think he did this?” Loki asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No!” May yelled, shaking her head. “My boy would never do something like this!”

Valkyrie winced, and Thor pressed his hand to her forehead and Loki hovered nearby with a look of concern and worry.

May sat down on a chair. “It can’t be Peter. He is too nice to do something like this to someone.”

Wong hummed, flicking through one of his texts. “He could’ve been mind controlled. That is always a possibility.”

Thor and Loki exchanged glances. Stephen narrowed his eyes.

“So, who is looking for Peter and Harley?”

May mumbled. “I don’t know, a few of the superheroes but they can’t say who it is that they are looking for.”

Loki growled, and walked out of the room. Thor watched his brother leave but didn’t go after him, knowing Loki just needed to calm down.

He just hoped Loki didn’t do anything stupid.

 

Peter spluttered, eyes narrowing as a henchman gave Red Skull a needle full of his blood. “Why do you need my blood?”

“When I owe or promise someone something I always deliver.” Red Skull stated, looking at the vial of blood. Lowering it and meeting Peter’s gaze, Red Skull smirked. “You understand, don’t you? You wouldn’t want something to happen to Harley, would you?”

“I said to leave him out of this!” Peter spat.

Red Skull simply shrugged and walked away, beckoning his henchmen to join him.

Peter growled, trying to jerk on the chains that continued to dig into his skin.

“Peter…” A soft voice caused Peter to whip his head around to look at Harley.

The younger had remained silent for the most part, the only sounds emitting from him were screams. Those were sounds that would certainly haunt Peter for years to come. If he survived anyway.

“Harley don’t…You sound like shit.”

“You look like shit.” Harley tried to shoot back, but his voice sounded tired.

He was constantly being given drugs to keep him drowsy and not clear headed. It was something that should’ve annoyed Peter more than it did. At least Harley didn’t feel as much pain anymore.

Peter tried to laugh but the chuckle sounded like a sob.

Harley whimpered, trying to curl in on himself. “I’m so sorry, Peter.”

“Stop being sorry.” Peter demanded. “I’m older than you, you are my responsibility and now you are here because of me.”

Brown eyes blinked at Peter as Harley listened to Peter’s words.

Peter continued. “Red Skull wants me dead, but perhaps there is another reason why I’m alive. All I know if that you are here, and because of that I have to do what they say, or they’ll hurt you when you don’t deserve to be targeted.”

“You always knew you were Zayden.” Harley stated. “Yet you didn’t say anything.”

“I’ve already lost one mother, and two fathers.” Peter said, slightly turning away from inquisitive eyes. “While they were my aunt and uncles…They will always be my parents. Tony and Pepper may be my birth parents, but they will never be the same.”

Harley nodded slowly, closing his eyes as his fingers dug into the ground. “I never wanted to replace you.”

Peter laughed dryly. “You can never replace what was never there in the first place.”

His laughs died off as the realisation caused Peter to curl in on himself, trying to bury his head in his knees as a wave of tears and depression struck him in the heart.

“Hey, Peter…Did you know…?”

Peter blinked, confusion filling him. Somehow it managed to suppress the sorrow. “Know what?”

Harley mumbled. “Nothing, never mind.”

Peter almost huffed out an annoyed laugh. He had to be strong. Not just for himself, but for Harley.

“I may be a lot of things, but a mind reader is not one of them.”

“You can figure it out. You’re smarter than me after all.” Harley shrugged as much as he could when he was seriously tired.

As Harley began to fall asleep, Peter frowned, but realisation hit him. Closing his eyes, Peter felt even worse.

“I don’t hate you, Harley.” Peter’s fingers unfurled and messed with the dirt that felt extremely coarse under hand. “You know I don’t feel that way.”

“Yeah.” Harley chuckled bitterly. 

Peter sighed before smirking. “When we get out of here, maybe I’ll be your wingman, huh?”

Silence.

“Fuck you, Parker. You’ll probably steal or scare away all of the potential candidates.”

“Only the best for my little brother.” Peter teased, somehow managing to crack a smile even in their situation. “If they run off then they aren’t worth it. Simple.”

Harley said nothing, but Peter could tell Harley was regretting everything.

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“You’re right…I don’t.”

 

Bucky was sat at a table as he watched Shuri work on his new arm. The princess had been distracted by the missing Peter and Harley. Bucky had never met either of them but considering how much it affected Tony and Shuri (from what he saw and heard) then obviously they meant a lot.

“Do you know where they are?” Bucky asked, hoping Shui would understand who he was talking about. Like there were other people Shuri was worried about and had gone missing.

Shuri shook her head, and Bucky could tell she wasn’t sleeping properly. “All we know is that…Hydra took them.”

“Hydra?!” Bucky yelled, memories of his time under their control began to surface. “How long have you known that?”

The princess looked uneasy. “For a few days, we weren’t told they were missing until twenty-four hours later. That was four days ago now.”

The ex-soldier bit his lip and gazed around the lab. “Hydra isn’t going to be nice to them. All of you are good to be worried, if they are somehow still alive means they want to hurt someone.”

“But the only person they are both associated with is Tony Stark.”

“Hydra made me kill his parents, so it isn’t totally unreasonable to assume they have something out for him.”

Bucky didn’t like it, but he was one of the few people who even understood Hydra. Romanoff probably did but being in the Red Room was different to working for them. Bucky was not someone to sit back and let others do something when he could.

“I’m going to help you look for them.” Bucky stated, standing up swiftly.

“What?!” Shuri cried, and even the other two scientists in the labs stopped what they were doing and looked at the princess and soldier. “Are you crazy? You can’t! I know I haven’t fully removed all the triggers. It would be too dangerous.”

“But, they would be found. I know Hydra more than you can even imagine, princess.” Bucky raised his chin. “I am going to help Tony and you search. I was a Winter Soldier, I know how to navigate anywhere without being noticed.” 

Much like that figure that was here a couple of weeks back. Bucky pushed that memory aside, perhaps he should try and locate the figure. Following him should lead Bucky straight to where Hydra’s base is, or something else that can be a good lead.

 

Shuri only watched as Bucky strode out of the labs. The others returned to their work, busying themselves with things that weren’t related to the princess or what had happened. Her hands curled around the Vibranium arm.

If Bucky was really going to go after Hydra, Peter and Harley, then his arm would need to be completed much earlier than Shuri had anticipated.

 

Bucky looked at the range of guns that hung on the wall.

“Off to the shooting range?”

Bucky didn’t turn around to face Steve. He didn’t want to. Steve might be his best friend, but it was doubtful that he understood why Bucky was going to do what he was going to do.

“No.” Bucky said. “Well yes, but more of a stealth shooting range.”

“What? Are you going somewhere?” Steve pressed against Bucky’s side, looking at his old friend in confusion.

Bucky nodded. “I’m going to help Shuri and Tony look for Peter and Harley. They’ve been captured by Hydra, and I’m the only one who really knows Hydra’s whole deal.”

As expected, Steve was less than pleased.

“Bucky, it’s too dangerous!”

“So?”

“What if a trigger is called?”

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

“Why? Why are you willing to take that risk?”

“Because Hydra has captured two children, teenagers but still, and is most likely torturing them. I won’t sit back when I can help.”

“But Stark and the princess can…”

“If they can they would’ve found them by now!” Bucky yelled, finally snapping and spinning around to glare at Steve. “The princess has been looking for four days, with spies also searching, and Tony has also looked with some military also doing searches in places that Hydra might be located.”

Steve opened his mouth, but Bucky cut him off.

“Yet they have come up with absolutely nothing! It’s like they have dropped off the face of the planet.” Bucky turned away with a slight growl. “They need all the help they can get, and I’m willing to help them.”

“Stark hates you.” Steve argued. “He’d never let you help!”

The older frowned. “How do you know he hates me? We haven’t even spoken to him since he found out I killed his parents…”

“When you were being mind controlled!”

“Point is, they died at my hands, Steve.” Bucky continued, as though he wasn’t interrupted. “The only one of the two of us he may hate is you. You left him at Siberia in a broken suit without checking for wounds. We were always told to never leave a soldier on the battle field.”

Steve protested. “He was fine.”

Bucky narrowed his eyes. “How do you know that? Did you check up on him?”

The silence was the only answer Bucky needed.

Bucky scoffed. “What happened to the Steve that I once knew? Where is he? Or did he die when you were frozen?”

Bucky didn’t wait for Steve’s response before he stormed off, anger radiating off his body.

Nothing was worse than leaving someone wounded, or not wanting to help children. Nothing.

Hell, he would rather be controlled by Hydra than leave someone wounded on the battlefield or not wanting to help find a kidnapped child.

 

The world spun every time Peter opened his eyes. The loss of blood was really beginning to affect him, and his temper was running thin.

Harley had been moved to a cell that was quite a distance from Peter. Apparently, they thought it would be beneficial for both of them.

Except, Peter wasn’t willing to work with Red Skull until he could determine that Harley was still alive. Being able to hear his heart beat was not the same as seeing the living body.

A soft glow emitted from a corner of the cell, causing Peter to blink back fatigue.

“Infinity?” Peter whispered, his throat raw.

“Not quite.” The voice was masculine and made Peter’s hair stand on end.

“Who…?”

“I’m Entropy, or the personification of Destruction.” The being explained, gazing around the cell with a critical eye.

“What are you doing here?” Peter managed to get out, trying to force himself up onto his knees.

Entropy merely blinked, unfazed by everything around, even a little judgemental towards what is around him. “What? Can’t I just show up? I know Infinity has been visiting you in your dreams.”

Peter tilted his head, trying to ignore the rush of blood that made everything swim in his vision. “Do you destroy relationships, and people?”

The Cosmic Entity narrowed his eyes, most likely wondering why he agreed to visit Peter, and not have another do it. “We do what we need to, to ensure that life plays out the way it is intend. Everything that happens is pre-destined, so to speak.”

His hand flicked, and Peter felt the wings return. Why wings, he didn’t understand, and this was only the second time they had appeared. His back was already feeling like Hell, and it was only to get much, much worse.

“Your wings…Peculiar, as a spider they would be legs or arms, but wings are limbs as well. Be thankful they took pity on you.” Entropy muttered, dropping his hand.

Peter blinked and turned his head to face the wings properly.

From what he could see, they were ebony black, with tints of dark scarlet, violet and navy blue. The tips of the feathers were a snowy white, and there were stripes of gold down the middle of each feather causing a ripple effect whenever they moved. Lightweight but sturdy, Peter knew straight away they were capable of flight, probably much bigger than what would be considered normal.

“They? Who is this ‘they’ you mentioned?” Peter asked, whipping his head around but the motion caused him to collapse onto the gritty floor once more.

Entropy showed no compassion, then again, he is the being of destruction. Destruction shows no sympathy towards anyone, no matter who they are. It does not judge on character, it merely destroys and causes chaos to run free throughout the population.

The wings retreated, causing Peter to let out a scream of pain. This was much worse than he had previously envisioned.

Entropy shrugged. “They are the stones, of course.” He backed into the shadows, beginning to fade. “However, that is something for you to learn and understand later. Now it too early.”

When the being vanished properly, Peter felt a little bit of comfort. At least he isn’t going to die in the near future. That was always a positive light.

The cell door opened and soon Harley was chucked into the cell beside him once more. The henchmen hissed at Peter, teeth glinting, and looked blood stained.

Peter felt a sense of dread cover his bones in ice. What were they doing to others?

 

Tony paced back and forth. His hands wringing in agitation, his mind whirling a mile a minute.

So much information on Peter and Harley’s whereabouts, but everything felt like a dead end. There was too much but at the same time, too little. They were being lead in circles, and the ring master must be getting a kick out of this.

There have been news reports of people getting attacked, in the day time, at home, the middle of the night, concerts, etc. Usually an animal was always attacked first, and after getting a call from May apparently someone Peter knew thought they saw him before ‘Peter’ supposedly attacked them.

Tony might be crazy but even he wasn’t crazy enough to believe that Peter would attack someone.

Unless he was being mind controlled…

Like Clint with the Mind Stone from Loki.

Or Barnes’ brainwashing by Hydra causing him to become a feared assassin across the globe.

Drumming his fingers across the window sill, the door opened, and Tony turned his head before freezing in shock.

There stood Peter, there was no doubt that it was Peter.

He looked like shit.

Blood stained his skin, and wounds—fresh and old—had risen parts of his body that could be seen. Eyes that were normally wide and bright with excitement and even teasing, were still wide but dull to the point where it looked like the life had been sucked right out of him. His clothes were ripped up, but they weren’t the same clothes he was taken in, so he must’ve changed or been given a change of clothes by his captives.

“Peter? What?” Tony stepped forward, studying the teenager.

Peter’s body shook as he coughed up blood. “Hey…Mr Stark…Long time no see.” He tried to crack a grin.

Tony didn’t know how to feel and placed his hands on his shoulders. “Peter, what happened to you?”

“Hydra…They…They killed Harley.” Peter hung his head. “I’m sorry.”

Blood ran cold in Tony’s veins. Harley was now dead? Tears pricked at Tony’s eyes, and they couldn’t save him because they didn’t know where they were being kept.

Peter fell into Tony’s arms, and the adult wrapped his own arms around Peter’s torso to keep him standing.

“Don’t fall dead on me, Peter.” Tony scolded. “We should get you cleaned up and knocked out with pain killers, so your body can relax and heal.”

Eyes looked up, and suddenly Tony’s body froze.

Normal brown—hazel eyes were glowing an eerie blue.

“I’m not sorry, Anthony Stark.” Peter snarled.

Tony could not react before something was stabbing him through the gut. His vision blurred and blackened, the final thing he saw and heard was Peter standing above him as he fell to the ground in a heap.

“You will never understand.”


	29. Wakandan's Soldiers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REVAMPED SLIGHTLY
> 
> Well some people meet and two reveals.
> 
> Have I ever said I liked to torture characters?
> 
> Also there is an important key note in this chapter (props to whoever is able to figure out what it is - I won't be giving away any spoilers in the comments though)
> 
> We are about a quarter of the way through Act 3, and there is a hint towards the next story in this one (well there are many hints but still)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I may be a bit slow with all other stories as next week i have like seven different assignments due for Uni and they are eating up my time. This story will still have pretty regular updates so don't worry.

Cho hurried as she looked over Tony’s wounds, the inventor had woken up an hour ago and he was just staring at the wall. Shock, she had told Rhodey and Pepper who were worried when Tony refused to say anything to them.

Hopefully, whatever had attacked Tony and sent him into shock would wear off.

“Anthony?” Cho asked, watching him closely, and he stiffened before he body seemed to relax and collapse in on itself.

“What did I do wrong?” His voice was soft, and made Cho perk up in surprise. She wasn’t really expecting him to say anything, his wounds were not healing for whatever reason.

Whatever he had been stabbed with was coated with a substance that she couldn’t identify and therefore was unable to properly heal him.

Tony looked up, his dark brown eyes were filled with tears as he struggled to contain his breathing. “Why did he attack me?”

Cho frowned, confusion coating her face. “Who? Him?”

“Peter Parker.” Tony said, dropping his gaze back down to his hands. “He stabbed me. Why would he stab me?”

“Do you truly believe it wad him?” Cho asked, moving to get some of the medication for him. Tony was probably out of it. She had seen Peter before and he was one of the sweetest people she had ever met.

Him hurting someone didn’t seem like part of his personality.

Friday spoke up. “Boss…There is strangers in the building.”

Helen and Tony both snapped to attention. Tony tried to get up, but Cho snapped at him.

“Don’t you dare move! You are injured!”

“No-one else is here!” Tony protested.

Helen felt dread creep up on her at Tony’s words.

He was right. They were the only one’s here, she had sent all of her helpers out after hearing more attacks on people. Perhaps one of them could figure out what was going on with the foreign substance.

They all heard Friday arguing with someone, before the doors were slammed open.

Tony and Helen froze, their eyes widening as they saw two very familiar people to them.

Thor and Bruce.

Bruce cracked a grin. “Hey guys. Long-time no see?”

 

Tony and Helen could only watch as Bruce worked on Tony’s wound.

“So…Let me get this straight…How are you here?” Tony asked, brows furrowing in absolute confusion.

Bruce and Thor shared a look as Loki shifted in his place.

Bruce frowned. “Well…It’s a really long story.”

Loki snorted. “Bruce here was trapped as the Hulk on another planet since he left Earth, and Thor has been on a mission of his own involving the Infinity Stones.”

“Like the Mind Stone?” Helen asked, joining Bruce to study the substance.

Bruce hummed in confusion. “The substance is very similar to what had affected Valkyrie, but less potent, obviously targeted towards a human and not an Asgardian.”

Tony stiffened. “You’ve seen it before? On who?”

“Brunnhilde, the leader of the Valkyries from Asgard. She joined Loki, Bruce and I here to Asgard despite us having to destroy Asgard to kill my half-sister.” Thor explained, resting against a desk looking around obviously keeping an eye out of any danger.

“So…Who attacked her then?” Helen asked, curiosity causing her to perk up slightly.

“She said it was Peter Parker, but I doubt it.” Loki said. “He doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.”

Tony, Bruce and Thor all stiffened. Loki raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

Tony leaped away from Bruce and spun to face the three of them. “You know Peter?!”

Loki paled even more than usual. “Well…I’m guessing you hadn’t guessed…”

“Brother, why?” Thor asked, glancing at his younger brother in mild irritation.

Bruce grabbed Tony’s arm and pulled him back. “Look, sit down while I check you over. That wound is deep and can lead to major damage if not treated properly.”

The billionaire eyed the king and prince before reluctantly sitting back down.

“So, how do you know Peter?” He questioned, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Thor stepped forward, to prevent Loki from saying something stupid and being unable to take his words back. “He…It’s a long story, but he is being taught magic from Loki and Stephen Strange.”

Tony seemed to change to understanding. “His extra outside of school classes he said he was taking…That was with you guys?” His eyes turned disappointed but not surprised. “You didn’t even want to show up?”

“What?” Bruce flicked his gaze up to Tony’s face. “No! Look, we had to relax and learn to understanding the world again. Things kept cropping up whenever we wanted to. When we heard from Karen that Peter had been kidnapped we were just expecting him to create a portal and just show up in the room.”

Shoulders slumped. “So…” Tony winced as Bruce finished sewing the wound closed. “I’m guessing you have no extra clues on their whereabouts?”

“None.” Bruce confirmed. “Stephen and Loki have been doing everything, but portals are finicky, and you can really only use it when you know where you want to show up. Being too far from an aura causes you to not be able to create a portal to them and if it does then it’s to where you last saw them.”

Helen was silent until she spoke up. “Can I have some of that? Some of the other doctors are rushing to help other victims.”

Bruce waved his hand to a couple of vials behind him. “There.” He leaned back and nodded. “And that should be it, Tony.”

Tony sighed, tilting his head back. “But…It was Peter and I know Peter.”

“Then you’d know he wouldn’t hurt anyone, even though he is capable of doing so.” Thor said, sitting beside Tony and resting a hand on his shoulder. “He’s a good kid.”

“How do you know he’s capable of hurting someone?!” Tony cried, looking offended that someone would even suggest that the sweet teenager—who might have a wicked sense of humour sometimes, but sweet overall—would be capable of even remotely hurting someone.

Loki sighed and looked out the window. Bruce fidgeted and proceeded to wrap Tony’s wounds in fresh gauze. Thor hummed, being distracted with his jacket.

Tony briefly noted it was the same jacket he had given him after the Chitauri debacle four years prior.

“Can we tell him and not have Peter distrust us?” Loki asked, directly the question obviously to Thor and Bruce.

Bruce wrung his hands in nervousness. “Well…maybe he’ll be fine if we say that we did it to help him.”

Thor nodded. “Then…”

Tony and Helen watched as the three were obviously glancing between each other and wordlessly asking who was going to tell them Peter’s secret.

Thor sighed, and flicking his hand. “I’ll do it.”

“Are you sure?” Bruce bit his lip, worry very obvious on his face.

“I’m the king of the Nine Realms, and Peter is one of those who live here. He’s understanding, and therefore he will only need to get angry at me if he does get angry.” Thor explained. He turned to face Tony and Helen—who was trying not to swoon at Thor, seriously. “Do not hold it against him for not telling you. I will not tell you everything about him, only the secret that I know you may except as an explanation.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “He has more than one secret?”

Thor nodded. “Two major ones, and what I’m going to tell you is one of those. These secrets can put his life in serious danger and is probably why he’s even in danger in the first place.”

Tony tilted his head, prompting Thor to carry on.

“Cut to the chase, Point Break.”

“Peter is Spiderman.” Thor stated, eyes never wavering from Tony’s.

Tony spluttered. “He’s WHO?!”

 

Rhodey leaned back as he watched Loki, Thor and Bruce closely.

Learning that Peter was Zayden might’ve been a shock, but realising he was Spiderman…Rhodey didn’t know how to feel.

On one hand, Rhodey was glad his nephew could take care of himself…

On the other, Rhodey was freaking out because his nephew literally attracted danger and had been shot at numerous times.

Rhodey didn’t want to know how Tony and Pepper would take that certain bit of news.

Definitely not well at all.

“So, you know that is wasn’t Peter because he’s Spiderman?” Rhodey leaned forward, raising an eyebrow at Bruce.

Bruce nodded. “It doesn’t sound like him. It wouldn’t make sense for it to be mind controlling as Vision is here.” Bruce waved his hand towards the android who was sitting on a nearby chair, watching all of them with his normal blank expression.

Loki stretched, looking remarkably comfortable, probably because all the other Avengers were nowhere to be found—AKA Wakanda—and probably knew that Tony understood that it was not Loki’s choice to attack Earth. It had taken Rhodey a bit to come to terms with that, but considering Loki was protecting Bruce, who also protected him back, he had decided that Loki was fine.

“We want to help find Peter, and Harley, as much as you do.” Loki said, resting on the bench as he looked at the glass of water he had been given. “Now you know he’s Spiderman, but that doesn’t actually narrow the search.”

“Cold areas.” Tony muttered, and everyone snapped their heads towards him. “Spiders can’t survive in cold environments. If whoever took them know he is Spiderman than it’s logical that they would be in snowy areas.”

Loki puffed up. “Well, luckily I am a Frost Giant. We do well in the cold.”

Thor blinked, torn between being slightly irritated and amused. “You know that is the major reason why you can barely touch the young spider.”

“Of course, I know that!” Loki snapped, cheeks puffing out, making him look more and more like the little brother Thor told them about.

Rhodey sighed, resting his head on his arms as he struggled to sort out his thoughts.

His nephew was out there, probably being tortured by some sick bastard that believes he can get away with what he is doing. A groan left his throat. Would this be easier if he only knew Peter as Spiderman? Would he be less willing to help him out? It was a sick question, but Rhodey couldn’t deny the fact that he might’ve been more willing to leave Peter if he wasn’t aware that he is Zayden.

Bile rose up in his throat. Fuck.

He was a terrible person for only caring about him being Zayden.

 

Red Skull stalked around Peter who struggled to keep his eyes locked on him.

Sleep tugged at him, but every time Peter began to drift off to sleep, Red Skull ensured he remained awake. When was the last time he slept? Three, five days ago maybe. It was hard to tell when days passed, now that Red Skull had stopped telling the two of them when the sun rose.

Apparently, he realised that not saying how much time passed would be more daunting to Peter and Harley than informing them how long they’ve been there for. It must’ve been over a week at the very least.

Peter was glad that school holidays had started, at least they wouldn’t have to worry about missing classes.

Snapping his eyes shut, Peter prayed that Ned and Michelle, and everyone else was safe and uninjured.

What was the crime like in New York? How many crimes had occurred without Spiderman there to stop or prevent them?

Red Skull hummed. “Should I do something, little Stark?”

“Fuck you.” Peter gritted out, eyes looking up and narrowing dangerously at Red Skull who only sneered at him.

“You think you are in a position to make threats?”

“Why would I want to fuck you?” Peter spat. “Even if I did swing that way, you wouldn’t be my type.”

Red Skull looked as though he didn’t know how to react to that statement.

Harley choked on a laugh, eyes opening to slightly sparkle.

“You are in no position to even consider making jokes.”

“I’m tired.” Peter said, voice making it sound like a whine. “If you don’t want me to be making jokes, let me sleep.”

Red Skull continued his pacing, waving off Peter’s words with a flick of his hand. “Why would I do that. It won’t be long until we are capable of joining Thanos. When that happens however, I doubt your friend will be alive. It really depends on if Thanos wants him.”

Harley flinched, curling in on himself.

Red Skull carried on. “But perhaps we should cause more distrust. Are you friends with a certain princess?”

Peter’s body flushed cold, muscles tensing in fear.

No.

He couldn’t hurt Shuri.

Especially not…Not with that thing!

“Don’t.” Peter tried to sound threatening, but his voice wavered. Eyes filling with tears at the mere thought of more innocent people getting hurt, using his appearance.

“Why did you use my blood to create him?!” Peter cried, as Red Skull walked away. “Why?! What have I done to you?”

Red Skull stilled, cautious and questioning his word choice before speaking. “It is Thanos’ plan. I am just going with it. For that ‘him’, why shouldn’t I use you?” Red Skull looked over his shoulder. “But, he is not the only one who needed your blood.”

“There’s another?” Peter asked, voice cracking in fear and desperation.

Red Skull walked off, cloak swaying and blending him into the walls of the prison, torture area.

Harley waited until Red Skull was gone before speaking.

“Pete…What are they planning?”

“The end of the world.”

Silence, and Harley’s voice cracked. “Are we going to make it?”

A part of Peter’s body called, screaming out for something he couldn’t identify. A power source of some sort, something that was close but out of reach.

“I don’t know, Harley. I really don’t know.”

 

Peter hissed from being forced into another room by himself, with Harley remaining in his cell.

The view was slightly fuzzy, as the solider who was recording everything with Red Skull's instructions, but Peter could tell that is was the Royal gardens of Wakanda. His heart tugged painfully, especially when he caught the sound of footsteps and a low humming noise.

The bushes and tree branches had blocked most of the view, however he saw Shuri walking into the eyesight of the Winter Soldier.

Peter could almost smell the flowers and he wished he was there with the princess. His teeth gritted together, shooting a look towards where he was convinced Red Skull was.

He hoped they found out that they were in the mountains, and that they were on their way to get him and Harley out of the torture they were being subjected to.

Red Skull was smart, and that fact terrified Peter more than he cared to admit.

A Lilac Breasted Roller bird let out a loud call, which caused Shuri to look up as it took off in flight. It was looking for something, or something, and awaited another call to respond.

Irony.

Shuri let out a sigh, and ran a hand down her face, believing she was fine and safe.

Peter wanted to yell and scream at her to run that she wasn't safe like she believed. She shouldn't be resting by a tree. No-one was safe.

Not while Thanos was still out there.

She was the smartest person in the world, so she couldn't risk getting killed. All of her knowledge would be wasted by her just relaxing for more than a couple of minutes.

"Father..." Shuri whisper, collapsing on the ground, looking at the sky through the canopy. She was looking for guidance, but couldn't find it. Peter felt bile rise up in his throat. They were only children, and Shuri also had a terrible life - probably not as terrible as his own, but still. It was a pretty shitty life.

She must've felt defenceless in the fight against her cousin after T'Challa returned to take back his throne. Peter knew what it was like to feel weak when you believed you never could because you were convinced your intelligence would be enough. No-one was above having shitty experiences, but those experiences helped shape you as a person as a whole.

No-one was that different to each other.

A branch snapped under the soldier's foot, causing Peter to tense and Shuri to perk up out of curiousity.

_Run, please, Shuri. Just run._

She believed she was alone, so of course she'd be wondering who was with her.

“Bucky? T’Challa? Okoye? Nakia?” She called, body tensing as she slowly stood up. “Is that you?”

No response.

Now, they would know better than to not answer, and if they didn’t want her knowing they were there they wouldn’t make it so she could hear them in the first place.

She raised her Kimoyo beads to her mouth and spoke softly. “T’Challa, there is someone in the gardens. The private royal gardens.”

She got no response until a beat later when she heard T’Challa’s voice. “Are you still out there?” She could hear him moving, guessing he was beginning to head towards her.

“Yeah.” Shuri’s voice became distant. “I’ll make sure not to get hurt.”

She moved her wrist away, avoiding hearing T’Challa’s complaint that she knew was coming.

Moving slowly, Shuri was taken by surprise when she saw a figure in the trees about twenty metres away. The winter soldier had stepped forward, causing the entire scene to not be blocked by foliage.

Peter almost whined. Shuri was in danger, and needed to get out of there. He was worried that T'Challa wouldn't be able to get to her in time.

“Who are you?”

“Hello, princess.”

Shuri stiffened, perplexed. Peter guessed they sounded exactly the same, and Shuri was doubting everything about this stranger. Peter also knew that Tony must've shared his experience with the others, so Shuri was judging him. To see if they were the same.

Obviously they weren't.

"You aren't Peter." She said, eyes narrowing.

Peter sighed out of relief. Shuri was not being fooled by him, thankfully. Hopefully this kept her alive. Now she was wondering why and how the soldier had managed to get in, especially with the defences that were the best in the world. Of course.

"How would you know?" The soldier stepped forward, and he sounded as though he had a twisted smirk on his face.

Peter's stomahc churned and twisted uncomfortably.

Peter saw Shuri take a deep breath, trying to forget that she was alone and had her gauntlets. That would be fine on its own, however she had no idea of this person’s fighting skill. Her gauntlets may only be able to do so much, her wits maybe a bit more if she’s able to keep a distance until her brother gets to her.

Do you really know Peter Parker that well?” He taunted, continuously stepping closer, gaze never leaving her.

Shuri bit her lip, not answering the question.

Peter wanted to tell Shuri that she knew him a lot better than she thought. She just didn't think they did because they pushed each other's buttons more or less.

The soldier laughed. “See. You don’t know him, so how can you say I’m not him if you don’t know him.”

“At least I know he isn’t likely to attack another person.” Shuri insisted, but even her words fell flat to her own ears.

Did Shuri truly think Peter would be capable of hurting someone? Well...those who deserve it yes, totally.

They both stopped, still keeping a good bit of distance between them. Eyes locked on the other, observing them, trying to see what they’d do next.

Before Shuri could react, a loud bang ripped through the air.

Bucky skidded and pointed the gun at the figure, eyes gleaming dangerously.

Peter never knew he was so thankful to see him in his entire life. Shuri would be fine! He let out a breath he wasn't even aware he was holding.

“I though I had noticed you!"

“Barnes. It has been quite some time since we last met.” The soldier sneered.

“You were dead when we last met!” Bucky snarled, shoulders tensed and the gun never faltering.

Peter, and Shuri apparantely, realised that if the stranger did anything Bucky would shoot. No holding back. They apparently had a history. A history Peter knew, better than Shuri did at least.

“You know each other.” Shuri asked, hoping T’Challa would show up soon.

The stranger laughed. “Of course, we know each other. Barnes here was the lime light, the best of the best. The greatest and most feared Winter Soldier of all time.” His voice turned darker, and Peter could imagine his eyes beginning to turn red. “The one with more kills than the rest of us, the one who was the perfect little minion for our bosses."

Bucky stepped closer, finger close to the trigger. “Why have you taken on the appearance of Peter Parker? Also, for your information, I am not a little minion.”

“Why have I taken his appearance? It was the blood given to me by my boss, of course.” The stranger smirked. “No? Well, little minions or not. We always leave those who are injured lying on the floor.” He cooed, mockingly at him. “And we all decide to do the wrong thing because it’s easier. We all decide to let someone else pull us around.”

“Shut up!” Bucky yelled, torn between shooting and throwing the gun aside to tackle the stranger to the ground.

“Isn’t that what you did in Siberia? You left Stark and you went along with Rogers because you knew him, because you still like being bossed around like the mindless minion that we are.”

That caused him to snap.

The gun clattered to the ground.

The view was filled with Bucky, but they could still tell what was happening behind the two soldiers.

Bucky and the stranger were left to tussle, both wanting to kill the other but by strength and no weapons.

T’Challa broke through the bushes and joined Bucky in restraining the stranger.

Bucky stood up, slightly shaky as the king held the other down. “Where are Peter Parker and Harley Keener?”

“I don’t know.” Stranger said, shrugging as best he could, eyeing the Dora Milaje as they surrounded them on all sides. “Seriously, if you kill me it won’t matter because where they are in nowhere I’ve been.”

Bucky picked up the gun and pointed it at his head. “Tell me you are being serious.”

“I am.” The stranger’s gaze never once left Bucky’s. “Minion.”

The trigger was pulled.

A loud bang echoed around the normally peaceful and quiet private royal gardens.

The view went black, and Peter realised that the camera had been so badly damaged that now they couldn't tell what was happening. He just hoped that everyone was alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right the fake Peter is one of the other Winter Soldiers (the one Red Skull 'resurrected' in Chapter 14 - technically in this story those Winter Soldiers were only frozen and not killed which is why he is alive without the Soul Stone)


	30. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally got it done (thankfully I am almost done with uni work for this semester, so updates after the next two weeks should be occurring more often)! However, the POV becomes quite disjointed, cause most of this was done with me being stressed and not fully clear headed to write properly from one POV whoops. Next chapter shouldn't be as bad as this I swear.
> 
> The last bit is made pretty obvious as to who is potentially saying what sentence, but I decided against using names to avoid it getting repetitive. I like how it came out though.
> 
> But the first part involves more Nakia (the next chapter should involve more Tina and Peter and Harley, as you'll see why).
> 
> We are reaching the major point for Act 3 (AKA the one chapter I had planned since the very beginning), not too far off now

The Power Stone glinted almost dangerously in the dim light of the mountain warehouse. It was entrancing, in a weird manner, and Peter forced himself to look away from it.

It was no Mind Stone, but it’s power was undeniable.

He and Harley had been given a chance to actually sleep. Red Skull claimed it was just to get them healed up before they continued.

The darkness didn’t make it easier, in fact it made it a hundred times worse.

Peter sighed, resting against the wall as much as he could with his hands chained up the way that they were. The metal dug into his skin and blood stained his wrists and hands, even his arms where the blood had run. The air was stale with the copper scent of dried blood and vomit, and it made Peter feel nauseas as he tried to block everything out.

Eyes shut tight, his body tensed as he felt the air shift with the Power Stone as it’s purple glow seeped between his closed eyelids.

Peter curled in on himself, head tucking between his knees.

Why was his life like this?

His eyes blinked open when everything seemed to stop, only to leave ringing in his ears. Looking up, he found himself in a misty plain, the dream scape that he often visited when Infinity wanted to talk or by whatever chance he got to speak to Nakia.

“Peter Parker?” A familiar Wakandan accent rung through the air.

“Nakia!” Peter whipped his head around with a grin to notice to older woman walking towards him.

Her brows furrowed as she studied him, her expression contorting into a mix of emotions Peter couldn’t properly identify at that moment. He could only imagine what he looked like to her, he probably looked better than he felt but the dreamscape did make him feel more refreshed.

It was probably because it was the first time he had actually been asleep for a week and a half.

“You…” Nakia paused, hesitating. “Are you in the same time zone as Wakanda?”

Peter shrugged, dropping his gaze. “Dunno. I dunno where Harley and I are. Mountains, the scent is too reminiscent of mountains and snow to be anything else.”

The spy nodded slowly. “We found the Winter Solider, the one that looked like you.”

“Oh…yeah. I’m guessing he was ordered to attack Wakanda.” Peter grumbled. “His boss, Red Skull, found out that I know Shuri and wanted her to be attacked since I wasn’t cooperating with him.”

“That sick asshole.” Nakia spat.

“Yeah, he takes pleasure in being a sick asshole.”

Nakia sighed. “We’ve been looking for you two since you were kidnapped.”

“I know.”

“What happened to you?”

“Trust me, I look a lot worse in person.”

Nakia paused before cracking a smile. “Who knows. Maybe Shuri will find the scars attractive.”

Peter spluttered, feeling his cheeks heat up at her words. “What?!”

“She still has that panther plush.” Nakia continued, ignoring Peter who squawked out in shock. “Also, a strange jacket I’ve never seen before. It’s black with silver webbing on the sleeves…” A single eyebrow was raised as if she was daring Peter to argue with her.

“She doesn’t know it’s mine…” Peter trailed off.

“She will soon.” Nakia said, arms folded gazing across the misty landscape.

Sadly, the dreamscape often remained as quite plain without any major landmarks. It all looked the exact same. Peter wondered if the Cosmic Entities did that to rip someone’s identity from what they are accustomed to.

It would make sense.

Peter shook his head, confusion filling him. “What do you mean?”

Nakia sighed. “I was told by Infinity…Thor—we didn’t know he was even here—revealed you as Spiderman after he met Tony.”

“Of course.” Peter muttered.

Nakia turned to face him. “Peter, you have to understand. What else would he say? He, his brother and Banner are also looking for you.”

Peter snapped, eyes blazing and shifting slightly to a much darker colour. “I know that! They are helping to train me, I just wished it didn’t come out like this!”

Nakia decided to drop the conversation. At least she knew herself that Peter was alright, well alive. Of course, he wasn’t alright nor okay, being trapped somewhere and tortured would not make anyone alright by the end of it.

Peter stepped away and the area began to shift and change, fading away at the edges and becoming more misty and foggy. He shook his head and lowered his gaze.

“You don’t understand, Nakia.”

“I may not.” Nakia agreed. “However…You and Harley are being tortured, and Tony Stark understands…”

Peter snarled. “I’m not telling him anything!”

Nakia blinked in shock as she stared wide eyed at the teenager who looked anything but pleased with her. The air became heavier and almost darker around the pair. Hair stood on end as they both sensed danger.

Peter cried out as a crack of purple lightning ripped through the landscape.

“Peter!” Nakia almost screamed out, before she was dragged out of the landscape.

“He and Harley need help.” Infinity whispered into her ear.

 

Nakia jerked awake, looking around the jet.

She and T’Challa were resting on one of the couches, with Shuri directly opposite them. Ayo was wide awake, gazing out the window while Bucky slept at the back, the other Winter Soldier was laying on the floor.

Knocked out.

For some reason White Wolf hadn’t killed him even though he had the opportunity to do so. Perhaps he knew he’ll be useful. They could always kill him later after all.

“Nakia.” Ayo’s voice broke through the silence, save for the deep breathing of the occupants of the jet. “You’re awake.”

Nakia nodded and slipped out of her boyfriend’s grasp. T’Challa whined slightly, reaching out to her before his hands dropped with a heavy breath. “Bad dream.”

The warrior nodded, her eyes flicking towards Nakia briefly before turning back to the landscape they were flying over.

“We should be reaching the Avengers compound within the hour.” Ayo stated, even though Nakia already guessed they would.

Nakia glanced at Bucky, the White Wolf, seemed so peaceful asleep and he barely shifted in his rest. Unlike Shuri who often couldn’t lay still to save her life.

The spy sighed, resting against the side of the jet. Okoye wanted to join them, but Ramonda had told her that the Wakandans needed her to remain, what if something broke out in the country? Not likely, but the queen mother was taking no chances. Shuri should’ve stayed in Wakanda but had snuck on board the jet and got into a heated argument with T’Challa about it.

“I heard that Stark doesn’t like White Wolf.” Ayo said, making Nakia jump slightly as she was not expecting the Dora Milaje to speak again.

Ayo was typically the quiet type after all. All of the Dora Milaje were, but Ayo was the one that spoke the least of all of them, maybe because she doesn’t always have the same seriousness in the air around her.

“I heard that too.” Nakia nodded. “However, while I do not know Stark personally, I do not believe he will hold a grudge when it comes to helping people. If Barnes is able to help him he will put all of his grudges to the side to get through it.”

Ayo hummed. “People say Stark isn’t a team player.”

Nakia blinked, everyone knew that. Did they? Stark was part of the Avengers, a team. He fought by their side, provided for them, and tried to constantly avoid fights with them. Perhaps he knows something they don’t.

Such as something coming that needed everyone’s help and in-fighting would prevent them from winning.

Yet…Nakia sighed. She wasn’t a spy for nothing. Stark did actually help out with donating to charities for less developed countries and villages that needed economical support. He also helped with the funding to repair destroyed buildings and areas from the old Stark weaponry and any damage caused by the Avengers.

That was probably the main reason why she was so against keeping Wakanda hidden.

Wakanda use to hide itself out of fear, yet you had Stark—who was hated by a lot of people across the globe—assisting where he could despite not having the same resources as Wakanda.

“The media rarely tells the truth, Ayo.” Nakia said, remembering some things Peter use to tell her.

He said that Tony constantly fretted over people, and even after the fallout of the Avengers, he stuck to keeping an eye on them. Going so far as to blatantly lie to the United Nations officials as to where the runaways were staying. He knew they were in Wakanda but said nothing because he didn’t want to endanger anyone, knowing that they would put up a fight and Wakanda would probably attack too if no warning came out.

Peter didn’t say why Stark was not speaking to Rogers, however Nakia had a feeling there was more to the story than what Rogers had told T’Challa.

Even Barnes looked as though he was iffy with Rogers’ words before saying he wanted to have his triggers removed.

Ayo nodded her head respectfully. “I know that, Nakia. You truly believe Stark will let Barnes remain in the same area as him?”

“Of course.” Nakia said, tilting her head. “Come, we are almost there, let’s wake up our sleeping companions.”

 

Tony folded his arms, glaring at the Winter Soldier who looked very at ease despite his life being in immediate danger.

Bucky was standing to the side, fidgeting slightly in unease but for the moment Tony decided to ignore him. They could always talk later after all.

T’Challa waved his hand. “He claims he doesn’t know where they are.”

“I don’t.” The Winter Solider, damn Tony should give him a nickname, protested, but still remained calm and aloof.

That pissed Tony off.

“You look like Peter.” Tony said, narrowing his eyes at the Soldier who met his gaze with just as much intensity. “You must’ve gotten that somehow.” Bucky stepped back slightly when Tony stepped forward and raised his chin to continue glaring daggers at the soldier. “Are you saying you don’t know because you don’t or are you trying to save whoever you work for?”

The soldier huffed, as if sick of repeating his words over and over again. “I really don’t know these teenagers you speak of. I’ve heard of them, yes, but my boss has decided against tell me anything.”  
Bucky suddenly piped up. “If you are being controlled, how are you in control of your mind?”

A beat of silence as the realisation washed over everyone.

“Well…I haven’t been controlled for a while now, my mind has slowly been coming back to me like it does to all the soldiers.” The soldier leaned back, as much as he could anyway. “Look, I was stationed in Africa. I am not the same soldier that attacked you.” He waved his hand towards Tony. “Best bet is trying to find that soldier and getting the information out of him.”

Tony growled. “We barely got any further, now we only know there are at least five other Winter Soldiers running around the world.” He spun on his heel and stalked out of the room.

Bucky hesitated before going after him.

“Stark? Can…Can we talk?” Bucky called out, keeping a distance between them in case Tony didn’t want to chat so he wasn’t forced into interacting with him.

“About what?” The tone seemed harsh but had an underlying tone of bleakness.

Bucky shifted when Tony turned to meet his gaze. “I…I’m sorry about Siberia. I wanted to go back and get you, but Steve said that you’d be fine…”

Tony snorted. “So? You want to help me now and act as though Siberia never happened?”

“No!” Bucky denied, shaking his head. “It did happen, that’s the thing. It shouldn’t have happened, but it did and you can’t brush it aside.”

Tony’s eyes are hard and cold but there was the underlying appearance of hope that flickered, before it was squished and shoved to the side.

“Just, let me help you to show that I mean well.” Bucky pleaded, voice almost cracking. “I don’t know what happened to Steve, he isn’t the same Steve I used to know. He might’ve had issues with the government, it’s better to have restrictions so people aren’t scared of you.” The old soldier laughed bitterly, gazing around the hallway. “Hydra might’ve fucked me up badly, but I don’t think everything is as bad as Steve says it is.”

“You’ve been in Wakanda. I don’t think the systems are the same.” Tony pointed out, beginning to walk away.

Bucky padded after him. “Please, let me help, Tony.”

Tony paused, and glanced at him briefly. “Fine. But, you better not make me regret this.”

“I won’t. I swear on my life.”

 

Thor, Loki, Bruce and Stephen all looked up when Tony entered with Bucky, T’Challa, Nakia and Shuri. Ayo had decided to watch the soldier just in case he wanted to say something.

Valkyrie was resting on the couch as Karen perched on the back of the couch, observing them carefully.

Karen almost hissed at Bucky. “You!”

“Me?” Bucky eyed her carefully, scrutinising her until she jumped from the couch and swiped at him.

“Karen!” Bruce yelped, moving towards the AI.

“He…He killed your parents Anthony!” Karen snarled, not taking her eyes off Bucky.

Tony blinked. “How…How do you know that?”

Karen suddenly froze, ears laying flat back as she contemplated what to say and how to say it.

“Karen…”

“Peter and I followed you.” Karen muttered, voice dropping. “We followed you, this guy and Rogers to Siberia…We saw the footage of the video Zemo had.” Her head lifted up and she looked guilty for an AI. “We obviously kept out of sight.”

T’Challa frowned. “How and why?”

Karen flicked her tail. “We were worried, well Peter was, I am his AI so of course I followed him.”

Tony blinked in silent shock. “I’m guessing that’s how I was found. The two of you?”

“Yeah.”

“When I find Peter, I am going to hug him for being alive, I’ll kill him and then I’ll hug him.” Tony said, folding his arms across his chest with a determined look on his face.

Shuri pursed her lips. “So…That doesn’t answer all of our questions? Why would they want Peter?”

Loki leaned forward and nodded his head towards Thor. “Brother, dear. Why don’t you tell them so bluntly to same way you told Anthony?”

Thor scowled but sighed, leaning back towards his younger brother. “Short answer, would you believe me if I said he’s Spiderman?”

“No.” T’Challa said simply, while Shuri looked down.

Her cheeks must’ve been red in embarrassment, as her superhero crush and actual crush were one in the same. Also, the fact Peter, Spiderman, gave her his jacket one day when she shirt got ruined by a freak accident.

Rhodey sighed and rubbed his face. “We are no closer to finding Peter and Harley. Are you even sure you should be telling us he is Spiderman?”

Thor hummed in thought. “No, but the secret will be revealed sooner or later. If he gets upset, it’s me he’s upset with. Not any of you.”

“Sounds terrible.” Loki snickered, despite the looks Valkyrie, Thor and Bruce shot him.

More or less telling him to shut up before he says something stupid and regrets it.

Ayo opened the door before any more words could be said.

“The soldier has something to tell us.”

 

“So? What is it?”

“I do remember where I met my boss.”

“Where?”

“Wait, who is your boss?”

“…”

“Tell us!”

“…Barnes knows him.”

“W-Who?”

“Red Skull.”

“Red Skull?!”

“I thought he died.”

“No, he’s still alive.”

“Now, where did you last see him?”

“The mountains.”

“Descriptive, human. Where?”

“Brother be nice.”

“I am being nice, this is me being nice.”

“If this is you being nice, I don’t want to meet you when you are not.”

“Shut up!”

“Do you want me to tell you or not?”

“Yes, yes. Go ahead.”

“The mountain ranges, the Himalayas.”

“The Himalayas?!”

“That far?”

“Are Peter and Harley going to be there?”

“We can only hope so.”

“I can take you there and show you where I saw him.”

“How can we trust you?”

“Because you want to find your kids don’t you, Anthony Stark?”

“Neither of them are my kids.”

“Fine. I’ll show you where the entrance is.”

“You better not betray us.”

“I won’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you know, this story will be the only story updated until I finish my uni work as it is stressing me out and only this story is a good stress reliever, but once I submit my last assignment everything else should fall into place


	31. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mwahahahaha
> 
> well several bombs have been dropped, and I really liked this chapter
> 
> I have not forgotten Tina or Ned, nor have I forgotten the Cosmic Entities (AKA only Infinity)

The rain pelted down on the roads of New York, the howl of the wind sent shivers down Tina’s spine.

She just hoped she knew how to get where she was going.

While getting help and asking for a ride would be the smart idea, but she herself didn’t know where she was going. She only knew who she was trying to find.

Looking up at the apartment building, Tina squinted as the rain caused her vision to blur. Raindrops fell from her lashes, and she tugged her rain-soaked jacket closer to her body.

Walking faster, she hoped that she would be able to get there before what was going to happen happened. Tina didn’t care that she wasn’t meant to mess around with the timeline, but she couldn’t let him not know what was going on. He deserved to know what had happened to his best friend.

Slipping up and heading up with the elevator, Tina shook her hair out while running her hand through the locks.

A loud knock ripped through the air, and the teenager was surprised to see that she was already at the apartment. Her hand hesitated in front of the door before she knocked again.

Before she could knock once more, the door swung upon to reveal a wild looking Ned Leeds.

He paused, eyes narrowing at her. “Who are you?”

“I’m here to talk to you about Zayden and Harley.” Tina got out before the door could slam in her in the face.

 

Tina blew on the hot chocolate as she looked at Ned and Michelle, who she was not expecting to see.

“Who is Zayden?” Michelle asked, leaning back in her chair.

Tina shifted, glancing at Ned. Silently asking him to keep his mouth shut. Tina could tell Michelle enough to satisfy her but also keep it low.

Peter would never forgive her if she told someone that his real name is Zayden.

“Did I say Zayden?” Tina asked, lifting her head.

After being dragged into the apartment by Ned’s mother, Tina had been given some new clothes that were not soaked through. She had been seated in Ned’s room with a cup of hot chocolate. Now Tina was quite happily waiting for her drink to cool down so she could properly drink it.

Her eyes flicked towards the window, and she almost grumbled.

People should just wait, and everything will be revealed. However, everything would be worse before it could be better, and Tina was hoping that she could try and ease the fallout that was going to occur.

Is that why she was wanting to delay the inevitable?

Yes, yes it was.

Michelle frowned. “I think I heard Zayden.”

Ned shook his head. “She said Peter and Harley, but…” He shot her a look, silently begging her to help him.

Hey, Tina might’ve been mean but she wasn’t that mean.

“I have news on them.” Tina decided to drag the conversation to the direction she wanted it to go.

“News?” Ned asked, catching her worry that Tina didn’t even realise was slipping into her tone.

Michelle leaned back and acted indifferent. “Have they killed each other?”

Tina wanted to yell that Peter is the reason why Harley is still alive, even if he may be the reason they were both in the situation they are in. Though…Harley was the one who wanted to mess around a distance from the compound.

“No.” Tina rolled her eyes. “Don’t look to disappointed, Michelle.”

Michelle just raised an eyebrow, though Tina could tell she was worried.

Ned looked between the two girls who had fallen silent into an eye holding competition. Unease folded off him, and Ned opened his mouth to speak.

Ned’s mother opened the door. “Hello, kids. Do you want anything to eat?”

“No, thank you, mum.” Ned said, glancing at the girls.

Michelle began to scowl slightly while Tina was daintily sipping at her drink. Her brown eyes sparkled with amusement, as though not bothered by Michelle’s look that could make even a gangster shy away in fear.

Ned’s mother pulled away and shut the door behind her.

Tina blinked, breaking the trance between her and Michelle, causing the other to reel back in mild surprise. “I am not going to beat around the bush.” Tina stirred her drink with the teaspoon. “They are no where to be found. They were kidnapped about two weeks ago in broad daylight.” Her eyes seemed to shine with something darker and secrets that were untold.

“What are you talking about?” Ned asked, leaning forward, arms resting on his knees as he struggled to come to terms with the bomb Tina just dropped on him. “Are you just pulling our legs?”

“No.” Tina tilted her head, her face blank and devoid of all emotion. “My hands are holding my mug, and my legs are tucked under the chair.” Her lips curled upwards in amusement when Michelle scoffed in annoyance.

The intern rested back on the chair and looked back at the window as a bolt of lightning lit up the sky. “Look, I’m not lying. They were kidnapped by an unknown source.” Actually, it was Hydra, but it would be better to keep that information hidden and on low profile. “How I know this is something that I can’t tell you.” Tina looked back at the younger teenagers. “All you need to know is that you should not expect to have them speaking to you soon. Whatever is happened is going to scar them.”

Michelle pursed her lips. “Then, how can we trust you?”

“Because, who else will you trust?” Tina asked, voice taking on a challenging tone. “If you knew what happened, then you would realise what is going to happen like I do.”

“You’re a seer?” Ned asked, voice hitching in surprise and shock.

Michelle grumbled. “Ned, seers aren’t real.”

Tina chuckled. “If that is a valid reason, then go ahead and use it. All you should know is that I’m telling the truth and you have to trust me when I say to not bring up what happened to Peter and Harley. That is the worst thing you can do but must remember this and not demand anything of them.”

“I don’t believe you.” Michelle folded her arms, looking defiant.

Tina looked at Ned. “You want to help your friend, right, Ned? Along with a certain mischief maker and lightning caller?”

Ned froze, eyes widening when he realised that Tina was referring to Loki and Thor. “How?”

“Like I said.” Tina’s eyes were bright. “I know things people don’t know, and I know power when I sense it. You should know Peter and Harley may be fine, if they don’t then something happened and the universe will be pissed to find out that it has been altered.”

She stood up and held the mug closer to her body, but the room felt cold despite the hum of the heater. “Do not do anything that you wouldn’t normally, I may help you out if you do. However, the path the universe has to take must not be changed, lest you want horrible outcomes to befall on you.”

Tina’s face changed to a smile. “However, thank you for letting me in and offering me some extra clothes. I’ll deliver them back to you in a few days.” She waved the hot chocolate mug to the two gobsmacked teenager and left the room.

Before the door shut behind her, Michelle spoke to Ned.

“Why do I get the creeps from her?”

“At least Peter and Harley are okay.”

“I don’t trust her.”

“I do, she knows something only Peter and I know. She has to be a seer, or someone with powers.”

Tina hummed, and left the apartment after saying goodbye to Ned’s parents and promising that she’d be fine on her trip back home.

Of course, she had powers.

Tina leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. A part of her wished she could speak to Sam. Perhaps that conversation would be able to calm her nerves.

Maybe even make her forget that she and Sam had a falling out when it came to the Accords.

Sam argued that Captain America needed his help, while Tina had told him that she was his cousin, and she needed him more than some guy from the second World War. He didn’t believe her and left and caused him and Tina to have a falling out and not speak since that incident.

Sam just didn’t know what Rogers did to Tony and believed that Tony attacked Rogers and Barnes without reason. Barnes, no Bucky, had no say, and Rogers what the perpetrator of the entire moment.

Tina rubbed her eyes and felt like a little child scared of the thunder and going to Sam and being told crazy stories from him.

Why, oh why, did Sam have to turn his back on his family. Especially his cousin who he swore to never leave.

And now, where was he?

He was a fugitive on the run, hidden in Wakanda, and she was in New York. He had left her, and Tina could never forgive him at all.

No matter what.

 

The water echoed as droplets fell from the ceiling and landing on the rocky ground, the sound resonating across the room. Dust lingered in the air, and faint scent of smoke managed to weave through the air.

Peter barely blinked, staring at the bars that had darkened with rust. Lips curled back into a snarl as he eyed the bars that now looked like they could be kicked down.

However, he was still unable to properly move, and his hands and ankles were still chained to the ground.

His skin felt itchy, as dirt dried on his face that he couldn’t wipe off from the prementioned chained hands. Peter tugged at the restraints and growled in his throat at the unfairness of it all. He tried to move his hands but once again found it near impossible.

“Fuck.” Peter hissed, shifting and blinking back the tears that once again threatened to fall.

The tears would just make his skin feel even worse, and the dirt already felt as though his skin was been pricked by needles.

His eyes narrowed at a henchman, and then Peter paused, shocked when the person looked nothing like the other henchmen.

It was one of the Winter Soldiers.

“Fuck you.” Peter spat, eyes narrowing in aggression as he tried to move towards the male.

The Winter Soldier smirked. “Somehow I find that very difficult for you…Or perhaps…We can arrange something.”

Peter reeled back in disgust, his fangs emerging and glinting in the low light. His skin prickled as though wanting to rip the man apart for his suggestion. The teenager hissed when he stepped closer, body tensing and the chains continued to dig into his wrists and ankles.

This caused even more blood to flow from the wounds, the old ones being rubbed open once more.

The blood scent hung heavy in the air, and it made Peter want to throw up. The fangs dug into his bottom lip, drawing even more blood, but Peter refused to show anything from his fear.

Though, the soldier looked as though he could feel Peter’s fear, and maybe he could, and just leaned against the wall without a care in the world.

Harley stirred awake—thankfully, Red Skull allowed Harley to sleep while Peter was forced to remain awake for long periods of time—and his eyes flicked towards his hands and feet.

He shot up in surprise, hands clenching and unclenching in shock.

“Surprised?” The soldier asked, voice almost purring. “Well, boss decided you were free to go whenever you wanted.”

Peter narrowed his eyes. Something was suspicious and off about the whole ordeal.

Harley dropped his hands, rubbing the wounds that were now released from the chains. “Peter?”

The solider sneered. “I don’t think so. He is to remain here. Boss wants him, well Thanos wants him.”

“Thanos?” Harley squeaked.

“Fuck off!” Peter snarled, fangs clacking against each other causing Harley to jump in surprise at the sound.

“Don’t want your brother to know the truth?” The soldier taunted, leaning towards the cell bars.

Peter snarled and jerked forward, mind being clouded by the desire to rip him apart. He didn’t care when he felt the chains begin to rub near his bones. The blood pooled beside him and caused him to struggle as his feet slightly slipped on the wet and blood-soaked ground.

Harley’s voice cracked. “Peter…the blood…”

“I don’t care.” Peter hissed, eyes turning more neon and aqua to match his arachnid relations. “I am going to rip him apart.”

His voice was more like hissing and growling than actual speaking, which caused Harley to curl backwards at the more animalistic features that were threatening to take over Peter’s body.

“Boss still has the Power Stone you know.” The soldier taunted, pulling away and laughing loudly. “You can try whatever you want, but perhaps you should think about your actions more carefully.”

Peter hissed, moving backwards and away from the cell bars.

The soldier turned around and walked off, with a low whistle.

The cell door to Harley’s cell clicked open.

Peter scowled. “You should probably leave and escape while you have the chance.”

“I’m not going without you!” Harley protested, moving towards the cell wall that was closer to Peter’s. “What if it’s a trap? You’d be sending me to my death!”

Peter narrowed his eyes but refused to look at the younger. He was afraid that it was a trap, however he didn’t want to risk Harley to continue being tortured.

Blood trickled down his face, and Peter sighed, looking at Harley. Sadness and hopelessness rolled off of Peter in waves, who knew it was pretty pointless to expect them to be save at this point.

They were too hidden and far away from anyone who could help them.

Red Skull had planned it properly to keep them hidden away from the world’s watchful gaze.

“Leave with the potential of death or being able to live, or stay here with little chance to survive?” Peter laughed, but it was emotionless. “I would choose the former every time.”

Harley didn’t say anything, and Peter didn’t need to hear anything to know Harley didn’t believe him. Peter forced his tears back, but the tears slipped down his cheeks with the blood. His wrists and ankles were dug into and the bones glistened from the blood that stained them.

Peter turned away and threw up from the feeling and appearance of them all.

His stomach twisted and turned, making Peter feel even worse.

He hoped that they could be able to be saved before Red Skull killed them slowly.

 

Infinity folded her arms and frowned as the six stone images floated in front of her.

The green stone glinted, and Infinity realised that Stephen had not used the stone recently. While it could be explained that maybe Stephen had no need to use the stone. Infinity said, looking away in annoyance at the fact Stephen could use it to his advantage but had no idea how to use the Time Stone to its full potential.

Stephen could visit the last location of Peter and Harley and use the Time Stone to see what had actually happened and maybe getting a better glimpse as to where they were taken.

The red stone hummed in power, but it was much darker and duller than its siblings. The Collector had been very careful with it, despite his arrogance Tivan obviously understood the importance of being a keeper of the stones. Infinity shook her head and looked over at Death who had begun to walk over to her.

“His death is imminent.” She said, voice void of all emotion.

Infinity grumbled. “Are you implying that I don’t know that?”

“I’m implying that he does not know how close his death is.” Death explained, eyes flicking towards Infinity. “Perhaps you should learn to not be so emotional.”

“I have to be emotional to make up for your lack of emotions.” Infinity said, eyes looking away and back towards the stones.

“Nothing about death is lovely.” Death agreed. “However, I am the harsh truth and you are the beautiful lie.”

“Nothing about life is a lie.” Infinity protested, as the other Cosmic Entity began to walk away. “You are just saying that.”

Death sneered. “Some people live a total lie and only realise the truth when they die.”

Infinity scoffed. “Where they are forced to live in absolute intelligence. How is that better?”

“Is Tina’s life better?” Death asked.

Infinity pursed her lips. “We have little control over the living, and we have no control over what powers people gain. All we can do is just ensure they do not break away from the lives they are meant to lead.”

Death scoffed and walked away. “Like I said. That is not better, she is cursed to live in this universe and know everything that has happened and will happen.”

Infinity just watched as she walked away and faded as she got further and further away.

The space stone glinted and shone brightly, indicating that Loki and Thor were using the stone to try locate Peter and Harley. They were probably the only ones using the stone in their possession appropriately. However, if Thanos got scent of the stone then Earth was in serious danger.

Maybe Infinity should tell them about it.

However, that was only about two years away. Thanos shouldn’t be making his way any time soon despite already having the Infinity Gauntlet.

The mind stone remained located with Vision, and also with the space and time stones. Vision often used the mind stone, so it was always a semi bright colour regardless of whether or not it is apparently being used. The stone was keeping Vision alive after all, and so the power was constantly being emitting from it.

Infinity rubbed her face as she stared at the last two stones.

The power stone constantly flickered between dull and bright tones. Red Skull was using it to rip apart Peter, however the younger was refusing to beg for death. Even if he did, Infinity would never let him die. Not before his time.

The soul stone was the most hidden, it remained dull, barely being used since it was created. Except for one time where it had been used by the previous protectors of the universe and the last being who wanted to take control of the universe.

Watching it, Infinity was able to walk away after knowing there was nothing to change.

But something caught her eye, and Infinity paused staring at the stones.

The power stone was rippling with power, obviously once again being used on Peter, however that wasn’t what caught Infinity’s eye.

The soul stone began to glow before shining brighter than the other stones and flares ripped out. Four wings stretched from the stone before shrinking back and continuing to have a bright orange ring surrounding it.

Infinity was worried but realised what had happened.

 

Peter felt his heart begin to fail, the beat slowing down and his blood felt like lead.

The power stone had casted the entire cell in a purple glow, however it had long lost its power and feel on Peter’s body.

Peter’s eyes flicked open, his eyes glistened with tears, but orange marking covered his visible skin. Faint four wings rippled in the air behind him from his back, and the feathers faded.

Peter murmured quietly. “Everything is doomed, people will die before peace can reign once more.”

His vision blurred and just before Peter could see the glimpse of his uncle Ben watching him.

“I’m proud of you, Pete.”

Peter’s head slammed into the ground as his vision turned pitch black.

 

Infinity stepped back.

The soul stone had chosen its wielder and carrier, much, much faster than was expected.

The stones were intelligent, so Infinity was more surprised but trusted that the stone knew what it was doing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all information will be revealed (we aren't even halfway through Arc 3) if not is this story the next one will clarify some more info


	32. Himalaya's Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, something is going down. Oh man, the next chapter is my favourite of the entire story :D
> 
> The other stories will be updated shortly don't worry.
> 
> Yep the other soldier is called Patsy, for no real reason. I just needed to give him a name.

Entropy yelled, leaning towards Infinity. “What have you done?!”

Infinity growled. “I have done nothing, Entropy.”

“Yes, you have!” Entropy waved his hand towards the Cosmic Stones, especially the Soul Stone with it’s ring. “The Soul Stone! What did you do?”

“Like I said, nothing.” Infinity folded her arms and narrowed her eyes, barely noticing Eternity and Death watching from the side. “The Soul Stone decided to choose its carrier without any assistance from me.”

Entropy didn’t look like he believed her. “Then, who is its carrier?”

“I don’t know.” Infinity knew she was lying. It would be stupid to not assume it was Peter/Zayden, because of his ability to sense the stones even before the spider bite. Clearly the Soul Stone had chosen him long before this moment.

“Peter Parker.” Death stated, not removing her gaze from the stones. “Infinity did not do it, Entropy. Even she isn’t stupid enough to make a child the carrier of one of the six most powerful objects in the universe.”

Infinity didn’t know how to feel about Death’s words but was thankful she was standing up for her.

Entropy was not impressed but didn’t bother pressing it further.

 

Tony watched the soldier, who he had decided to nickname Patsy ignoring the indignant expression that had crossed his face, as the jet flew towards the Himalayas. Something was up with what he had said, while they expected he was telling the truth, there was something that was not being told.

“Are we almost there?” Tony asked, head glancing out the window as the clouds surrounded the jet.

Nakia hummed. “Only an hour away now.” She walked out of the cockpit and nodded at Bucky who was still seated at the back of the jet, more cautious about being near Tony.

Tony nodded, and looked at the ex-soldier. “Okay, keep an eye on him.”

Tony moved towards Bucky, collapsing opposite him, causing the older (is he really, though) male to stiffen in anticipation of something that he believed was going to happen.

“Bucky.” Tony leaned back and looked out the window. “Do you trust the guy?”

Bucky looked at the black and gold metal arm and shrugged. “Not really, but…we have his life in our hands right now. It’d be stupid to lie to us.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Tony muttered, remembering Stane and Rogers and their betrayals.

The soldier sighed and looked at ‘Patsy’ with a critical expression. “I am just worried. All Winter Soldiers have trigger phrases and words. What is someone is waiting for us?”

“Then we will restrain you.” Tony explained, resting back eyes finally meeting Bucky’s. “You will be fine here, with us.”

“You aren’t going to kill me?” Bucky asked.

“Why would I? What would I even get out of it?”

“Vengeance for your parents’ death?”

“Except they’ve been dead for two decades.” Tony raised a single eyebrow. “Like I said, what would I get out of it?”

Bucky shrugged. “Thank you.” A pause of silence as the sounds of the engines whirled around them. “You know, you are a lot nicer than what I was told. I was told you are a selfish bastard who can’t work in a team.”

“They aren’t wrong.” Tony started, however Bucky quickly cut him off.

“Except, you are an Avenger and they work in a team. Despite not knowing if we can trust Patsy,” Bucky could only grin at the nickname, “you decide to listen to his words and go somewhere that might be housing an ambush. I’ve seen the reports on everything the Avengers have done and what used to be for all of you, and I am just confused as to why everyone assumes you are still the same as you once were.”

Tony blinked, as if Bucky had just dropped a truth bomb on top of his head, like he didn’t know what Bucky was saying. “Is that why you got into a fight with Rogers?”

Bucky tensed, but before Tony could brush the words off—despite his budding curiosity—Bucky began to speak.

“Yeah…Steve wants the old Bucky back, the Bucky before the war and being controlled by Hydra. That isn’t me anymore, and he doesn’t realise that. I want him to accept me as I am now, but we have been getting into some disagreements that end up with me not wanting to talk with him.”

Tony nodded slowly. “I—I understand what you are saying.”

Bucky forced a smile, however that smile became easier and more natural. “Still, I have to thank you.”

“I have done nothing for you to thank me.”

“For giving me a chance and knowing that my crimes under Hydra can’t be ignored.”

“My company was known for creating weapons, and I actively sold them until I had the truth slam me in the face for me to stop it.” Tony explained. “I can’t ignore the crimes, which is why I agreed with the Accords, however they have been altered to be better and more open to everyone.”

Bucky shook his head. “Steve is never going to accept the Accords, even if it’s the best choice for the public’s opinion and the ensure they feel safe.”

Tony closed his eyes and groaned lowly. He didn’t want to really remember the horror show that was the Accords.

Spiderman agreed with them, after it became clear that Vigilantes weren’t affected by the Accords as long as they followed the laws of where they were.

Spiderman…

Tony lurched forward, startling Bucky, and rested his head in his hands, his elbows digging into his knees.

Spiderman is Peter Parker.

Peter is Spiderman.

How had he never seen it before?

Why did it take for Thor, Loki and Bruce to tell him that his intern is probably his favourite hero?

It was no secret that Spiderman was allocated as one of New York’s favourite heroes, and even managing to earn a good reputation across the world. Most people accepted him, as he sided with the Accords, and the UN promised that he was not going to be affected as long as he followed the laws. That was what he did before anyway, so it’s not like he had to change at all.

“Tony?” Bucky asked, voice soft which was a stark contrast to how he normally spoke.

“My intern…is Spiderman…” Tony almost whimpered but was able to catch himself before he did.

Bucky hummed, nodding. “Well, yeah. I thought we established that.”

Tony threw his hands up as he jumped to his feet. “Well, now my brain has finally processed everything! The Accords! That idiot! He sided with the Accords!”

Bucky frowned. “I thought they were taught in school?”

Tony rubbed his hands across his eyes before he paused. “Karen…”

“Karen?”

“His AI. She’s incredibly intelligent and competent, and she has seen the Accords. Peter must’ve also been able to download the entire Accords document easily if he was able to make an AI that challenges mine in ability.”

“I have never seen Peter.” Bucky said, stretching his legs out. “What he sounds like though, he seems like a…” He trailed off, as if realising something, shaking his head, Bucky brushed it off. “Well, I’ll make assumptions when I meet him.”

Tony stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked down the jet, pointedly ignoring the curious look that settled on Bucky’s face. Nor did he hear Bucky’s murmur of, “Peter sounds like a Stark.”

 

The jet settled down on the mountain side, Bucky nudged Patsy down and out of the jet causing him to stumble and land in the snow. Nakia could only laugh, while Tony gazed around the rocky alpines.

Something was off.

Loki sighed in relief. “Oh, this is pleasant. It’s lovely.”

“You’re a frost giant.” Bruce said, tugging his jacket closer to his body, and moving to Tony’s side. Not that he didn’t trust Loki. Bruce trusted Loki a lot, and Tony was only a little iffy about trusting Loki but accepted Loki.

If Tony could accept Loki’s mistakes then he could accept Bucky and his mistakes.

“Exactly my point. This is my type of place.” Loki sounded way to pleased, but Tony took that as his way of showing his dislike to the New York heat.

Well, it wasn’t the hottest place on Earth, Tony had been trapped in a desert after all. Even then he wouldn’t want to force Loki to go through that torture, nor anyone really.

Without Thor around, only Bruce was here to keep Loki in line, except Tony’s close friend was not really feeling up to it. “Loki, please. We are here to find Peter and Harley.”

“Fucker!” Patsy screeched at Bucky who was only looking at him in annoyance. “Stop shoving me into the snow!”

“I didn’t do anything. You are the one refusing to move.” Bucky argued.

Patsy stood up and huffed. “Well, follow me. The entrance is this way.”

Nakia hung back and whispered to the group. “Keep an eye on everything around us.”

“No, I was thinking of staring at a wall.” Tony scoffed.

Nakia hissed. “I’m serious, something is seriously off here. I’ve been a spy for long enough to be able to identify these things.”

“We trust you.” Bruce cut in, covering Tony’s mouth before he could make another snarky comment that was applicable for their situation.

Following Patsy, everyone grew a sense of dread, it was faint but present. The snow and rocks crunched under their feet, the sound echoing around the silence despite the howling of the wind. Tony summoned on of his gauntlets, to be on the safe side, and Bucky ensured that his gun was fully loaded.

Patsy paused in front of a door, head tilted to the side before turning around. “Here it is, the entrance.”

“That…Was easy.” Bucky stated.

Tony scowled. “Can you get us in?”

“Nope.” Patsy popped the ‘p’ sound. “I do not have the clearance to open the door. I’m sure you can be creative in finding an opening however.

Raising his hand, Tony readied the gauntlet. Patsy made no attempt to move, his eyes glinting, and suddenly changing into a purple colour. It was enough to confuse Tony.

That hesitation was enough.

A loud rumble ripped through the mountain, rocks and snow tumbled from the sky, and one struck Bruce on the head. He hissed, raising a hand to the wound that was slightly bleeding.

Patsy only laughed. “You really thought you’d get to Peter and Harley?”

“You lied.” Loki snapped.

“I made no promises to help them get out, only to show you to where they were being kept.” Patsy shrugged before laughing loudly.

“Avalanche.” Tony said. “Hydra has set off an avalanche.”

Loki growled. “I’ll be fine, you guys better get back to the jet.”

“We aren’t leaving without everyone!” Bruce argued, ignoring the ground shaking beneath them.

Patsy laughed. “You’d be lucky to escape.”

Turning around, Nakia gasped. There were Hydra soldiers standing in front of them, their eyes glowing purple as well.

“You led us right into a trap!” Nakia tensed, shoulders rolling back.

“You shouldn’t have been so trusting then.” Patsy cackled. “Red Skull was expecting my arrival with you. I wonder what he is going to do to you when he finally gets a hold of you.”

Bucky snarled, raising his gun at Patsy. “Then you’ll be the first one to die here.”

Patsy’s eyes glinted. “Bring it on then, minion. Red Skull misses you the most.”

“Keep your mouth shut, fucker!” Bucky hissed, lunging forward to tackle the other soldier in the snow.

Tony blasted two of the soldiers in quick succession, turning to protect Nakia—as the spy had no weapons on her—with a call out. “We have to get to the jet, now! It’s not safe for us here.”

A loud bang rung out and they all turned to see Bucky standing over the corpse of Patsy. The bullet hole in his head bleeding out and revealing some brains that had splattered across the white snow.

The perfect sign of innocence being ruined by death and blood. Tony was not one for symbolism, but this seemed much to impactful to just be a mere trick of the light. He swore that a face appeared in that blood and brains for a second.

What ever it was, it reminded him of the vision Wanda forced him to see the previous year. A similar presence was here that was there. He had no idea what it meant and was afraid to find out what it did mean.

Loki grumbled. “Well, looks like we aren’t going to be alone for much longer.”

It was then that Tony realised that the soldiers who had cornered them had all but left, with only a few lying on the ground where their heartbeats ceased to even exist.

“The avalanche is coming soon, we should move unless we want to get caught in it.” Bruce explained.

The group rushed towards the jet, trying to ignore the sting of the cold against their bodies. Nakia shivered, not being used to the weather from her usual missions in warmer climates. Loki’s frost giant heritage was his saving grace, and therefore was the only one not bothered by the temperature.

Bucky scowled. “I really don’t like the cold.”

“Neither do I.” Tony agreed. The last time he was in a cold area that was Siberia, and his saving grace was Peter. There was no-one else that it could’ve been after all.

Bucky sent him a look, one of pure understanding before they turned a corner to see the jet. It didn’t look like it had been attacked or damaged in any way.

Perhaps they could get out of here safely then. They’ll resume the search after the avalanche was over.

Life was not on their side, however.

“Hello.” A voice made them all freeze and pause in their steps before they turned to someone who they never wanted to see but had the misfortune of running into.

Red Skull strolled towards them, a device in his hand. It looked innocent enough but it still held an air itself of danger.

“Red Skull.” Bucky growled, body tensing as he stepped backwards away from his previous controller.

“Barnes, have you missed me?”

“Not at all. But I hope I don’t miss shooting you in the face.” Bucky raised the gun, his finger on the trigger.

Red Skull fiddled with the device. “I wouldn’t do anything, unless you want me to press this button.”

“What will it do?” Loki asked, knife pointed towards Red Skull as well.

“Do you really want to know?”

“Not really…” Bruce stammered, stepping backwards. “I think we should leave. The avalanche is coming.”

Red Skull hummed. “I’m not surprised it didn’t hit already. I’m giving you an opening to get out of here.”

Tony glared, his gauntlet charging up with energy. “I am not leaving without Harley and Peter.”

“It appears as though you have no choice but to do exactly that.” Red Skull raised his hand, the button glowing purple and a sceptre appeared in his other hand.

Loki gasped. “That sceptre. It belongs to Ebony Maw! We were wondering where it vanished to. You had it the entire time?”

“And the power stone.” Red Skull motioned towards the stone that radiated a large power that made everyone’s knees almost buckle from the sheer proximity to it. “Thanos will love it to be delivered to him, and what better opportunity for myself to do it personally. I wonder how Thanos will deal with knowing you still have the Space Stone, Loki, knowing you were meant to hand it to him after the Chitauri invasion.”

The god’s hand clenched tighter on his knife. “I am not scared of him. He will never be a God.”

Red Skull snorted. “If a God could get hurt, then people would stop believing in them. Last time I checked, you and Thor could get hurt, so does that make you Gods any more than a human?”

Loki frowned, stepping forward. “Why don’t we just shoot him here and now? Get rid of him.”

Red Skull tilted his head. “I’ll let you go, you can hop on your plane and leave. Then Peter and Harley will be fine.”

“I am still not leaving without them.” Tony hissed, hand clenching.

“You don’t know do you?” Red Skull asked, eyes focusing on the inventor.

“Know what?” Tony asked, face twisting into confusion.

Red Skull laughed. “Oh, this is glorious. You don’t know the full truth, even though you claim being one of the smartest people on the planet.” His face twisted into an expression of sick pleasure.

His finger hovered over the button. “I guess this is goodbye.”

Bruce grabbed Tony and yanked him and Bucky back towards the jet. “We have to go now! Nothing we can do will stop this!”

Tony struggled, but Loki pulled him behind him. “Now, Tony!”

Nakia climbed into the pilot seat and quickly got it up into the air just as the button was pressed. Almost instantly, the avalanche came tumbling down to where they just were.

Tony cried. “Peter! Harley!”

Bruce and Loki shared a look.

Bucky shook, and Nakia sighed as she kept the jet away from the mountain side.

But before anyone could speak up, smoke began to appear from the mountain, where the entrance was. Smoke...That button did more than allow the avalanche to continue it’s path down the mountain.

Tony froze, blood freezing.

The place was set on fire.

And Peter and Harley was still in there.


	33. Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AKA my favourite and most planned chapter :D

Harley whimpered, raising his head as his eyes tried to focus on the dark surroundings. Something had disturbed him from his sleep.

“Peter?” Harley called, voice cracking from lack of use. “Are you awake?”

Silence, and Harley could see Peter’s profile. Unlike the older, Harley could never properly see in the dark or in a lack of light like the building they were in.

“Pete…”

“It’s smoke.” Peter said, standing up and looked over his cell. “Can you get out?”

Harley nodded slowly as he stumbled to his feet, his mind whirling.

His cell door opened easily. _Red Skull didn’t bother locking it._ Harley didn’t know how to feel about that realisation. He glanced at Peter who struggled to keep himself upright, clutching at his side.

Peter’s body was stained with blood, more so than Harley’s. He had sacrificed his own happiness and comfort to keep Harley pretty spotless when it came to injuries. The younger staggered over to the cell, legs shaky from not being used for almost two weeks.

Shit.

Had it really been almost two weeks since they were captured?

It seemed wrong and too strange, but that was the truth. They had been tortured and harmed for almost two weeks, and it was a wonder how they managed to get through. Perhaps the knowledge that Tony was looking for them.

Speaking of Starks…

Peter looked terrible, body literally shaking. He was covered in scars, one was cut down the side of his face, with another scar slightly over his right eye. Harley would consider Peter handsome, but you can’t really think that about someone when their bodies are literally covered in blood.

Harley’s nose scrunched up. Any smell would be better than the reek of the concrete cells.

Peter rested against his cell door, his voice scratchy. “Can you help me, Harley. Please…I can’t open it myself.”

Harley grabbed a hold of the cell door and yanked on it hard, briefly considering that it opened inwards but feeling it give out made him rethink that idea. “I know it should be obvious…but why?”

They could talk about him being Spiderman and Zayden Stark when they aren’t trapped in a building that was most definitely on fire.

“They kept my strength down.” Peter whispered, and Harley had to strain to hear him. “My strength will continue to deteriorate until I can get something to eat.”

Harley forced himself to crack a grin, despite the pain of his split lip that he didn’t even realise he had. “Okay, try not to eat me please. I know I look delicious.”

Peter snorted, ad the door opened just enough to Peter to slip out of his cell. “I don’t know how you think that. Heck, tofu looks more delicious than you at the moment, and I hate tofu.”

“What have you got against tofu?” Harley squawked, pleased that they were able to joke despite what they just went through. He had a sneaky suspicion that Peter and Tony’s coping methods in that department were the same.

Joke about something that injured them, play it off and don’t worry about getting medical assistance until it gets serious. Enhanced healing or not, that was not healthy.

Like Harley himself was a master in the knowledge of what is healthy or not.

Peter grumbled, and slightly pushed past Harley in order to get to the hallway. Harley quietly huffed and trailed after him.

“So…enhanced senses?”

“Yeah, what is your point?” Peter didn’t bother turning around to face Harley, who decided to ignore the stab of pain in his chest at that.

“Can you tell what happened or what is going on?” Harley pressed needing answers that he wasn’t sure he wanted.

Peter hummed, head tilted, and Harley saw his eyed flicker shut. Immediately Harley rushed to his side to be there if Peter crashed.

Thankfully there was no cause for alarm, Peter continued to stand upright.

However, the next words were a cause for alarm.

“There was an avalanche, and the framework of the base is longer stable.” Peter’s eyes opened to reveal an aqua colour that was not there before.

It sent shivers down Harley’s spine, mind screaming at him to run from a potential predator. But this was Peter, he would be as harmless as a puppy sometimes but even Harley couldn’t argue with the fact Peter could be dangerous if need be.

Harley shifted on his feet. “So…what do we do?”

“We have to find a way to get out of here.” Peter stated continued to walk down the hallway, not bothered by the darkness around them.

“No shit. They should call you Sherlock.” Harley muttered, knowing Peter could hear his words but would just choose to ignore him.

Peter hissed. “The framework is unstable, Harley. The ceiling is likely to collapse at any time. If you want to ensure you don’t get stabbed with a falling piece of cement or whatever the fuck this place is made out of, then listen to what I tell you.”

Harley wisely kept his mouth shut.

No point in arguing with the truth.

He would be digging his own grave otherwise and no-one wanted to be digging their own grave.

The hallways winded and seemed to be endless, there were a few close encounters with the ceiling, but thankfully Peter’s hearing caught it before they did so they were able to speed up to evade it or went a different direction if it was possible. Harley kept right beside Peter, not trusting himself to not lose Peter when he eyes could barely make out three feet in front of him.

If Peter was annoyed by practically being a guide, he didn’t show it.

Harley caught sight of his expression and saw it was scrunched up, but concluded it was with the stress of the environment they were thrust into along with trying to navigate a place that isn’t meant to be easily navigated.

“Do you think we are almost out of here?” Harley’s voice was a pathetic whimper and he kicked himself for how he sounded. He hated how it sounded like a wounded animal or a scared child.

But then again, he _is_ a scared child, isn’t he?

“It’s hard to tell.” Peter admitted, shoulders slumping. “I want to say yes, but that would be a lie.”

Harley nodded slowly. At least Peter was being honest with him and wasn’t trying to shield him from the truth. After all, a good relationship is built on trust and honesty.

Well…that could be a complication when it came to his relationship with Tony and Pepper.

Ah…Harley would not like to be around when that truth bomb drops.

The fallout would be spectacular.

Spectacular in the manner that it could either go that Tony and Pepper accept Peter as their child or they wouldn’t want to talk with Peter.

It really depends on how they find out the truth.

The hallway was slightly illuminated by some older flicking lights.

Harley’s eyebrows furrowed. “What are they…”

“Lights.”

“Like I said before. No shit, Sherlock.”

Peter let out a broken laugh. “What? They are!”

“I know that, but what are they made of? They don’t look familiar to me.”

“Chitauri tech.” Peter brushed off. “I don’t understand it, but I recognise it enough to be able to identify it.”

Harley could only nod.

Their footsteps echoed around the hallway, leaving Harley to imagine himself back in the US at home probably playing video games. Maybe even hanging out with the decathlon team after a practise, he and Ned teasing Peter about Shuri, and Harley getting into discussions with Karen.

Those were easier and better days.

Harley wasn’t even aware of how much he loved those days until he was longing for them.

He should’ve been paying attention, otherwise he would’ve heard Peter’s yells of his name.

Of course that wasn’t what caught his attention, it was what came after.

Harley yelped as he was suddenly, and rather roughly, shoved to the side of the hallway. He hit the ground with a light thump, but he chose to ignore the numbing sensation on his side as he realised what was going to happen.

“Peter!”

The ceiling caved, before Peter could jump out of the way himself, the rubble fell and cascaded around each of the boys. A second of silence and peace surrounded them before it collapsed the rest of the way.

Harley’s throat felt raw from the shrill scream he let out. “Peter! No!”

He covered his eyes with his hand, struggling to get to his feet as his legs almost gave out from the sheer effort. The dust cleared to reveal a mountain of rubble, something that looked impossible to cross or remove. By him anyway.

“Peter?” His voice shook, fading out as his feet carried him towards the rubble. “Please…No…”

His eyes began to sting, Harley would be an idiot to believe it was because of the dust. His emotions had been locked up for the most part of the two weeks they had been here, as Red Skull would torture them even more if he saw a sliver of emotion in their eyes.

He was a sick bastard.

Harley almost collapsed as he knees buckled, he slowly lowered himself to the rubble, hands resting slightly on one of the cement slabs from the ceiling.

Harley froze, catching sigh of a pale and bloody human arm that was slightly twisted from under the rubble. His body kicked into autopilot without him realising it. Harley scrambled to pull off cement slabs, being careful to ensure none of them fell on Peter and damaged him even further.

The rubble took far to long to clear away, even if it was just to grasp Peter’s arm and pull him out. The rubble creaked and groaned but managed to remain in place without falling even further.

Small miracles.

Peter’s body was still warm, but it was cooling rapidly.

Harley whipped his head around, still crouched with Peter slightly sprawled on his knee from where Harley had tugged him free. He had no idea where the exit was. He could continue down the hallway…

He bit his lip, tears were free falling from fear of his life, fear for Peter’s life, and stress from not being able to be any more helpful. 

Man, he was such a screw up.

It was all his fault they were here, and now Peter was nearing his deathbed because of his stupid actions.

“I’m sorry, Peter.” Harley choked out, before standing up, pulling Peter’s limp body with him.

While he may view his mistakes as his alone and in hindsight they were really stupid and disastrous, Peter and he were not dead yet. If he remained here then surely both of them will choke on smoke, that or the entire ceiling will collapse on both of them.

The avalanche outside had done a lot more than Harley initially believed. The snow was weighing down heavily on the base, and soon enough it would break under the pressure all over. There had to be a way out that wasn’t blocked off, life couldn’t be that bad that there wasn’t.

Straining under Peter’s weight, which was definitely more muscle than fat, Harley found himself walking incredibly slow. Even with his own injured legs, he pushed on. He would never forgive himself if he stopped walking this moment and basically killed the two of them from his inability to push through.

Whimpering, Harley adjusted Peter’s arm around his neck and shoulders, trying to figure out an easy way to partially carry him but ensure that his feet weren’t dragging across the uneven and broken ground. It was pointless, considering Peter was taller than him, which made the whole thing really uncomfortable.

If anyone saw them, and they weren’t covered in blood, it would be almost comedic.

Harley almost laughed at the ludicrous thought that crossed his mind. How could he laugh or find something funny in this situation? Their lives were on the line, and if he couldn’t find a way out then they’d never be able to be reunited with their families.

Despite Harley’s own issues with his mother and sister, after his mother began to ignore him out of his similarities to his father, and the sole fact he and his sister grew distant to the point they barely recognised each other anymore, he missed them desperately.

They were still his family after all. All he had was them, and that wasn’t including the Starks.

He had no right to be in their family since Tony and Pepper have Peter…Even if they don’t know the truth.

They did always love Peter, even if they didn’t say anything about it. Their actions were enough. Harley always had to listen to them talking about him, praising him to the point Harley got sick of hearing “Peter this, Peter that”.

If you told Harley a few months prior that he would be helping an unconscious Peter out of an underground bunker that they were being tortured in and that they would even consider each other brothers, he would laugh at you and tell you that he’d leave Peter for dead and save himself.

Man, how times change.

Harley looked around, water dripped from burst pipes, water creating puddles across the ground, which splashed up his legs. It was freezing cold, but it was cooling enough to ease Harley’s mind and force him to focus.

Still, they weren’t dead yet. If Harley could just push on they would be fine.

Wouldn’t they?

Why oh why was life so excited to ruin the lives of people across the world?

“Don’t say that.” A feminine voice broke the eerie silence, causing Harley to jump and almost let go of his tight grip on Peter.

At the end of the hallway stood a shadowy figure, a white cloak covered her face from view, her body glowed in a way that mesmerized Harley. She didn’t seem to be that tall, but that was most likely because of the distance between the two of them.

She felt intimidating, and you didn’t need to have enhanced senses to feel the power that radiated from her.

“Who…Who are you?” Harley called after he had found his voice.

The figure hummed. “Do you want my title or my name?”

“Both?”

“You don’t sound so sure.” The figure began walking backwards.

Harley tripped over his feet as he followed her, Peter’s breaths were coming out weaker and weaker against his neck. Hopefully this figure was just some apparition his mind conjured up to try and convince himself that they aren’t alone.

“Okay then…What is your name and title?”

The figure hummed, not answering only taking a few turns down different corridors.

“You better be taking me to an exit!” Harley yelled, his voice echoing once he rounded a corner to not see her.

He doubted she left and was watching them. It felt weird to have such a strange being with them, but if Peter asked he could probably boast about being able to navigate the halls without any help or assistance just from what he learnt from video games.

Thinking that, Harley realised that Peter would probably find him stupid and roll his eyes at his claims, before saying “sure, of course that is what happened”.

Harley would die of embarrassment if Peter did in fact say that.

_I am so lost here. All the hallways look the same…_

Pausing, Harley’s eye struggled to focus but once they did he noticed something that he definitely didn’t see moments before.

An exit door.

It seemed too good to be true, but he didn’t care. If it was trap then at least he can die saying that he tried to get them out.

Also, his shoulders were aching, he was not built to heave around someone heavier than him.

His hands couldn’t grasp the door, but soon he was able to shove the door open using his shoulder in which Peter was not leaning on. Sharp pain erupted from the contact, however two more pushes and the door caved and opened for them to get a face full of snow and cold frozen air.

Frozen air.

Like time had stopped.

Harley blinked at the view.

It was night time, clouds floating around the mountain, but no stars could be seen.

Harley stumbled, collapsing onto the ground with Peter following right behind. He tried to ignore the almost non-existent breathing and heartbeat underneath his fingers when he put his hand against Peter’s neck.

There was still some life left.

Harley didn’t know how to feel as he managed to get up and take a few steps before crashing, leaning against the rocky wall. Their only saving grace was that there was no ceiling about to fall and if another avalanche came they would be sheltered by the overhang.

The figure saved them.

Harley wasn’t sure if he should still be trusting a figure who came out of nowhere and vanished into thin air.

He was on a mountain, in the Himalayas, with no help for miles, and was stuck having to watch over a dying person who truly shouldn’t have been on his death bed.

But Peter pushed Harley out of the way. He must’ve realised what was going to happen and protected Harley from the onslaught of rubble.

Peter was the kind of person Harley wanted to be.

Selfless and willing to help anyone no matter what.

Then again Spiderman hadn’t actually ever killed anyone, only slightly injured them for the police to catch.

Harley closed his eyes, trying to keep his tears at bay. He was unsuccessful as they slipped out and rolled down his cheeks.

His voice was scratchy. “Peter, please. Please, wake up!”

He opened his eyes once more to see Peter’s lifeless body lying on the ground in front of him. A cry of pain and misery ripped from his throat. Harley whipped his head around to stare at the mountainous view that laid ahead of them.

The sky was beginning to show signs of lighting up. Dawn was approaching.

It was miserable. Peter’s day had ended but another day was rising for Harley. Harley now knew Peter was Spiderman and Zayden. How could he possibly tell Tony and Pepper the truth? How could they live with not being able to save their son?

Harley bent over crying. “This is unfair! How can this happen?! Why did you have to take Peter? He has loving parents and family!” His eyes closed shut. “I should’ve done something more to help him. Peter should be the one alive and I should be the one dying or dead!”

The teenager tilted his head back. “I’m useless! I should’ve helped him sooner! I shouldn’t have let my fear prevent me from helping him when he needed. Even if he lives how can he survive having his body crushed?”

Harley’s vision was blurry from the tears. He didn’t bother wiping them away. Why should he? He deserved to feel this pain. It was his idea to take the hoverboard for a spin in the field quite a distance from the compound. He deserved all the pain, and to be blamed about what happened.

Harley was sobbing, continuing to say “my fault. All my fault. I should’ve done something. I am useless!” His words melted together, and even he couldn’t tell what he was originally saying as his sobs also ripped between each word.

“No.” A voice that was barely above a whisper but sounded like a yell to Harley.

Harley whipped his head around, tears continuing to run down his face in streams. Blinking, his vision cleared slightly to see a very tired and wounded Peter looking at him through half closed eyes.

“Peter?” Harley whispered, suddenly saying anything above a whisper would break the serenity that had fallen over the two of them.

“Hey, Harley.” Peter murmured, a small smile crossing his face.

Harley resisted the urge to leap at Peter and envelope him in a hug. Fresh tears poured from his eyes, but now were the results from pure happiness instead of distress. Peter was also crying, his tears pooled on the ground where his head was laying. 

The sun was now rising, and both of the boys were encased by the warm rays. Harley found it a better morning than it had been for the past hour.

Peter shifted, managing to stand up and walk towards Harley. Of course, Harley was not letting Peter do that, and jumped up to help him. They both collapsed on the ground, curling together to stare at the rising sun. Harley released a deep breath.

“I’m glad you are alive.” Harley whispered, nuzzling his head into Peter’s shoulder. He let his tears out again, not caring that he was getting Peter’s shoulder wet. “I’m so sorry. I’m so useless.”

“You’re not useless.” Peter murmured. “Look and open your eyes. You are heir to Stark Industries, and you have great ideas.” Harley shook his head. He wasn’t heir, Peter was. “Harley, listen to me. Look at the sunrise. It’s a new future. A new future for both of us.”

Harley sniffed, and turned his head to look at the rising sun. “How so?”

“You know my secrets, Harley. I know yours.” Peter whispered, his voice was soft and steady. “We can help each other.”

Harley nodded, continuing to cry. He wasn’t afraid to cry in front of Peter anymore. Not after that experience. He felt Peter rest his head against his and closed his eyes and smiled.

The sun’s rays covered the two teenagers.

It was a new morning.

A morning where both boys could move on together.

A morning where Harley was aware of Peter’s secrets.

A morning where the past could be behind them.


	34. Quinjet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh man, I loved writing this chapter.
> 
> The next few chapters will all be a day each - maybe, we'll see how planning goes.
> 
> Also, finally Webclaws!

Peter sighed, and looked up at the sky, thankful that the sky had turned from dark blue and faint red on the horizon to a soft blue with orange and red clouds rolling across the sky. It would be warming up soon, so his skin and body would learn to adapt to the warmth that he had missed so much.

Harley had drifted off to sleep, head resting on Peter’s shoulder, and fingers curling into the hem of Peter’s shirt. The elder didn’t want to shift and rouse him from the sleep he desperately needed. Even though Peter himself needed to sleep as well, he had to remain awake until Harley had woken up. After all, his body couldn’t regulate its body temperature like a normal human could, which was a curse at the moment because Peter had to fight the sleep that was gnawing at his mind.

His eyes followed the clouds that looked too peaceful for what had happened in the past two weeks.

Two weeks of being trapped and tortured…That isn’t something that can be pushed to the side as if it didn’t occur.

Tears filled his eyes, as he turned his gaze towards Harley and then focused it on his wrists that were still stained with blood. The wounds and gashes across his body were still too deep to be considered healthy, however they’d heal when Peter managed to consume enough food and get enough rest.

Peter knew his clothes were too big for him now, not having food does that to a person after all, and the material felt too rough against his skin that really needed to be tended to. Running a hand through his hair, Peter noticed that the hair had reached just above his shoulders and was an absolute mess.

This would normally be enough to drive Peter to washing his hair vigorously until his hair was silky was again. That was most likely his animal side coming out and desiring to be clean – cause before he never gave a shit about what state his hair was in before the spider bite. It was actually quite amusing to Ben and May.

May…

Oh no.

She must be sick out of worry for him.

She believed he’d be safe at the compound, and certainly he was, and then suddenly he goes missing? What was he going to do? She’d never let him out of her sights again when he returned.

The sun’s rays warmed his skin up, and he raised one of his wrists to better stare at the blood that stained his skin. The chains had damaged the cells so much that it’d be a miracle for his body to heal naturally, so much so that Peter questioned whether or not he’d even be able to.

Harley shifted, head tucking closer to Peter’s neck, desiring warmth that peter couldn’t give him. Peter wrapped an arm around Harley’s shoulders to try and give him comfort. He didn’t want to even think about the PTSD that Harley would suffer from this experience.

Peter frowned, his eyes narrowing when he saw something flicker in the distance.

No way.

It couldn’t be.

His ears strained to hear any sounds that would give it away.

It was.

There was no mistaking the familiar engine noises of the Quinjet.

He had missed the sound of jets, it reminded him of home so much. Longing and homesickness stabbed at his heart, causing Peter to shift to stare at it to see where it was going.

Hopefully not away.

There was a smaller flicker near the Quinjet that would’ve been impossible to see had he been anything else. However, he recognised the eagle form that Karen sometimes took if Peter needed to get somewhere quickly but couldn’t use his webs.

“Karen!” Peter yelled.

Harley jerked awake at the yell, his eyes blinking open slowly out of confusion. He looked so tired that Peter winced and muttered a brief apology as he scrambled to his feet, ignoring the way his body swayed dangerously.

He staggered to his feet and stared at the shapes. “Karen!”

Harley grumbled. “I was comfortable.” However, he too stood up and padded towards Peter, staring up at the sky but his brows were furrowed in confusion.

Peter doubted Harley could make out the Quinjet, because it was indeed flying away from them, but Peter held on hope that Karen could hear his calls.

She couldn’t ignore him. Not when they were so close.

“Karen!” The eagle robot stopped in its flying and Peter could imagine her turning around to stare in their direction wondering who was calling her name. “Karen! Here!”

The eagle flew closer from what peter could make out. The world was beginning to get really fuzzy. Apparently, Harley could also tell that, and placed his hand on Peter’s shoulder to try and keep him from blacking out – or at least being able to keep him up somewhat if he did collapse. Peter sent Harley a grateful smile.

He seriously doubted Harley’s care and compassion when they first met.

Now he wasn’t sure where he’d be without him.

Most likely dead in the building as the ceiling collapsed around him.

That was a thought that was never going to leave him, was it?

Well, it wasn’t the first time a ceiling dropped on top of him anyway. Great, not he had more fuel for his nightmares that didn’t like to leave him alone when he was in bed in the dead of the night.

“Karen?” Harley asked, voice shaky as he struggled to find it once more. “Is she here?”

“And a Quinjet.” Peter said. “That is probably the reason why Hydra abandoned the place and left us. Because they found us but they didn’t want them to find us.”

Harley shifted, hiding something from Peter, but he couldn’t be bothered to try and figure out what that was. They were so close to salvation.

Something caught Peter’s gaze as Harley also gasped loudly.

The Quinjet was flying back towards them, its shape becoming clearer. The gray was a stark contrast to the dawn and early morning skies that laid out behind it. The engines grew louder and louder, until Peter managed to block them out enough for them to not do his head in with pain.

Harley glanced at him. “Karen must’ve told them.”

“Of course, she did.” Peter whispered, his tone was soft and adoring towards his AI whose loyalty to him never once wavered.

The Quinjet landed on the snow as Peter pulled Harley back and away from it. A part of him wanted to run up to it, especially after catching the scents of Loki and Bruce, mixed with Tony’s familiar scent of oil and the arc reactor.

The door opened and soon Tony and Bruce were stumbling out, their eyes wide as they took the two teenagers in.

Tony let out a choked sob, engulfing both of them into a hug (which was a bit awkward on Peter’s part considering eh couldn’t remember being hugged by him before) and leaned back to stare at them. “Oh god. You two are safe and in one piece.”

Peter decided to try and hide his wounds, but Harley wasn’t having any of his shit it turned out.

“Peter has serious wounds.” He motioned to Peter’s wrists that were still stained.

Peter wanted to shoot him a look to keep his mouth shut, but when Tony pulled them both onto the Quinjet with a hurried, “We have to get you two home and into a medicine centre stat!” Peter decided he didn’t have the heart to be annoyed at Harley who only wanted to look out for him.

Peter found himself sitting on a seat, staring at Loki who tried to act nonchalant about the entire thing. However, his gaze proved otherwise, and Loki was soon hovering around the boys. Bruce had snapped at him to either sit down and give him space (like he had with Bucky and Tony) or actually help him (like Tony was).

Loki frowned and collapsed on a seat again, beside Bucky, and grumbled. “How long until we are back in New York?”

Nakia called from the cock pit before she too walked out, leaving Friday and Karen in charge of piloting the jet. “Ten hours at the rate we are going. Any faster and it may be too hard to slow down in time, and we’ll overshoot our destination.”

Peter’s lips twitched upwards at her and ignored the pain from his split upper lip. “Hey, Nakia.”

Nakia frowned. “Ya know, for Spiderman you do like getting into a lot of danger.”

“Never said I liked it.” Peter muttered. “Danger just tends to find me, that’s all.” His eyes flickered over to Tony. “I’m guessing you know that secret, huh?”

Tony huffed as he stepped away from Harley after double checking the wounds on his back. Thankfully they were nowhere near as bad as Peter’s. “Yes…I had an interesting conversation with your aunt about that tid bit.” His gaze showed he wanted to be annoyed but his concern overrode everything else. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

Peter gazed at his hands. “Like you’d accept a kid helping you out on things around New York.” His voice was slightly bitter, and Bruce squeezed his shoulder in reassurance.

His hands were lifted to properly wrap his wrists in gauze. Tony winced at the sight of the deep gashes.

“Even so, we could’ve ensured that you were properly protected with appropriate gear and armour.” Tony pointed out and his frown deepened. “Please tell me that those wounds are the only bad ones.”  
Peter shook his head, earning him an annoyed look from Harley.

“Peter had some of the ceiling dropped on his head.”

“Harley! I thought we weren’t going to talk about that incident!” Peter exclaimed, ignoring the sudden expressions of fear that crossed the adults’ faces.

Harley shot him a deadpan look. “I don’t remember talking about leaving that bit of information out.”

Peter huffed, puffing of his cheeks slightly. “I didn’t think it would be something to be spoken about.”

Harley rolled his eyes in disbelief. “Well, since we never talked about it, we can talk about it. Even if we did I still would’ve brought it up because you wouldn’t want to get checked for those kinds of damages.”

Peter noticed Harley caught himself and realised that Harley was about to call him Zayden.

Peter huffed and crossed his arms. “Well…It’s not the first time.”

“It’s happened before?!” Tony almost screeched, eyes wide and Peter noticed that Tony wasn’t even trying to hide the concern. “When was this?”

The vigilante contemplated on not saying anything, Tony was smart. He’s figure it out.

That was really just a terrible idea though.

Peter wished and hoped that Tony would never figure out that he is Zayden. He’d never hear the end of it otherwise.

“When your plane got hijacked by Vulture. I tried to follow him before he did and we ended up in a warehouse. He destroyed the foundations causing to the land on me.” Peter explained. “I lifted them off me before I followed him…and you obviously know the rest of the story.”

Tony groaned. “That’s what happened to my plane.” Despite his worry he smiled warmly and rested a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “I owe you one for doing that, even though you didn’t have to.”

Nakia’s expression turned to one of extreme fondness as her voice lifted in playfulness. “Now I see why Shuri likes you so much, even though I already knew.”

Peter stammered, jerking away from everyone. Harley cackled.

Nakia grinned. “I’m just joking, Peter.”

“No, you’re not.”

“You’re right. I’m not.”

Harley shifted and let Bruce check over his wounds, allowing Tony to sit beside Peter. The adult looked at Peter’s wrapped wrists, eyes were seemingly unfocused.

“What happened to you?” Tony asked, eyes not even leaving it as Loki sat on the other side of Peter. “Actually…I’m not sure if I want to know.”

Peter hung his head. “I just want to eat and actually just sleep.” His eyes filled with tears. “Is there anything here?”

Tony nodded and slipped to the side of the Quinjet to grab a wrapped-up sandwich. Every single time people got onto the Quinjet food was kept in a fridge. Often times the Quinjet was always out for over an hour and considering the amount of people usually on board. This allowed for food to constantly being replaced for those on board to eat or drink whenever they needed to.

He handed the sandwich to Peter who whispered out a “thank you” and looked at it critically.

Peter felt bile rise up in his throat but his forced it down and began to nimble on the edge of the sandwich. He needed to eat, it didn’t matter how badly he felt or how much it made him want to throw up. Loki rubbed Peter’s back slightly, which caused the younger to flinch away at the contact.

“Sorry.” Peter mumbled, hoping that they would brush it aside.

He really didn’t want to know what his back looked like. Certainly, the Power Stone’s influence over his body which caused wings to rip from his body, and the rubble of the ceiling wouldn’t have healed properly anyway.

“Peter.” Bruce started, but Peter turned away, slightly embarrassed by his weakness.

Tony waved everyone away, as he grabbed Peter’s arms and tugged him up. “I’m going to check him over.” 

Peter glanced at Harley who merely nodded at him, also eating a sandwich that Bucky had given to him earlier before. Peter sat down in a secluded area, legs beginning to tuck up to his chest.

Tony moved around and tugged at Peter’s shirt. “Look. Peter, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. But, I need to check your wounds. If it’s not checked it could become infected.”

Peter wanted to argue, but kept his mouth shut, allowing his shirt to be removed. He winced and tried to shield himself from Tony’s gaze that had turned dark in anger. The wounds were still fresh, and some blood still ran down his skin. His back was still slightly ripped open, and Tony remained silent as he moved around to grab gauze to wrap around Peter’s body.

He was so silent that Peter felt as though Tony was disappointed in him.

“I’m sorry.” Peter whispered.

Tony flinched. “Don’t apologise, Pete.” He sighed and finished tightening the gauze to try and block the wounds from open air. “It’s not your fault. It was Red Skull’s fault. He did this to you, he tortured you to the point you are stained with blood, and you still have fresh and open wounds.”

Peter hung his head once more, refusing to look at the expression on Tony’s face, worried that his father was truly angry at him.

“I’m sorry, I let us get caught.” Peter murmured, biting his lips.

The older male whipped around to stare at Peter. “Peter! It wasn’t your fault, it was mine for letting Hydra even be able to get onto the property in the first place.”

Peter shook his head. “I wanted to test out the hoverboard.”

His voice shook with emotion, and he hated that his eyes were filled with tears. Peter hated appearing weak, not wanting his father to be disappointed for having such a cry baby as a son.

Perhaps they should’ve been better if they never met.

Perhaps it would’ve been better if he had been killed by the Hammer Drones so many years ago.

Tony crouched and put his finger on Peter’s chin, lifting his head to stare at him. His other hand wiped the tears away from Peter’s cheek. His eyes were soft, which did not ease Peter’s worries and fears.

“Pete…I know I don’t really show it, but seriously. Kid, I care about you, a lot, probably a lot more than I should for someone who I don’t even know.” He sighed. “You didn’t even trust me enough to tell me that you are Spiderman.”

Peter pursed his lips, trying to hold his tears back, but it obviously didn’t work. That wasn’t the only secret that Peter didn’t tell him, and Peter feared what would happen when the truth finally revealed himself.

Maybe he could go to a different country?

Like that would work.

He’d eventually be found.

Tony enveloped Peter into an awkward hug, fingers running through Peter’s hair, and Peter could smell the faint scent of blood lingering on his hair.

Peter sighed and blinked before letting his eyes slip shut. “I’m not hungry.”

“You are seriously malnourished.” Tony chastised. “You need to eat before you go to sleep.”

The teenager huffed but pulled back and longed to feel Tony’s warmth. He looked at his sandwich and nodded, when Tony was convinced Peter was going to actually eat he slipped away to go to where everyone else was.

Harley was sound asleep on one of the seats, with Loki and Bucky drifting out of sleep. Bruce was going through all the medical and food supplies. Nakia and Tony discussed their journey back to New York.

Lifting his head, Peter saw his reflection in the mirror opposite him.

His hair looked really mattered, and like he assumed, had grown quite a lot in the two weeks of not caring for it. The brown and red colouration seemed darker and stained with dirt, mud and blood that irritated Peter’s face when it brushed his forehead or his neck.

His eyes seemed sunken in, the usual hazel look had darkened from stress and lack of sleep. They appeared browner, but one eye seemed greener than the other which had surprised Peter briefly. The whites of his eyes had darkened at the edges to seem black. After looking at them for a longer period of time, his eyes slowly returned to normal.

His face overall seemed ashy, and there was one large scar running down the right side of his face, with two scars over his right eye. There were a couple of scars on his left cheek, and his left ear had a rip in it at the top.

Overall, he looked like he had managed to walk out of hell.

Well…He certainly felt like he did.

He sighed and let his eyes drift shut, but felt his sleep being pressed by someone who he recognised. Opening an eye, Nakia stood in front of him. Her expression was soft, something that he knew was Nakia’s default expression.

She sat down opposite him, legs stretching out while Peter curled his legs beneath him – pointedly ignoring the sharp pain that shot through him.

“Nakia.”

“Shuri was really upset when she realised you were gone.” Nakia stated, not bothering with her bluntness.

Peter sighed. “I’ll see her when we get back.”

Nakia’s lips twitched upwards. “She’s at the compound.” Suddenly her eyes began to sparkle. “She might even kiss you, if you’re lucky.”

Peter spluttered and turned away, ignoring the heat in his face and Nakia’s laugh at him. “Well…I mean…Uh…”

“Or perhaps you should kiss her first.” Nakia leaned forward, voice lilting in playfulness. “Either way, T’Challa and I have a bet going on.”

“Why?” Peter asked, sounding shocked by the declaration.

Loki chuckled. “Are you pestering the poor Spider about his crush?”

“I thought you were asleep and on my side?’ Peter cried, eyes widening at Loki’s smirk.

“I was asleep, but I woke up when I heard teasing going on. I wanted to see what was going on.” The god said, flicking his hand. “Also, I was never on your side.”

Peter huffed and looked out the window.

Bucky decided to step in and side with the poor teenager. “Leave him alone, guys. He’s had a rough two weeks.”

Peter smiled at him, which Bucky returned before turning to close his eyes in sleep. The teenager returned to curling himself up, maybe he could just sleep off the trip.

He heard movement and low chatter, before he felt someone pressing against him. The scent of the mountain hit him, and Peter adjusted to let Harley rest against him more comfortably. A hand ran through his hair.

Tony.

Peter sighed and managed to catch himself before he called him “dad”.

Tony’s voice echoed around. “How much longer?”

“Seven hours.” Nakia answered.

Peter sighed and let his body fully relax into sleep. It had been so long since he managed to get a good night sleep. Peace floated around him.

Nothing could break this.

SO much so that he didn't even notice he mumbled about the soul stone and his body feeling weird before he drifted off fully to sleep. He didn't notice the looks between Tony, Nakia, Bucky, Bruce and Loki.

 

Peter felt his body being lifted, and he turned his head to nuzzle his face into the neck of whoever was carrying him.

The scent of Tony flooded his nose, and Peter found himself sinking into his father’s embrace.

Regardless of whether or not Tony knew the truth, Peter desired having his father’s attention. Perhaps he felt a little bit selfish for liking the fact Tony was holding him and not Harley. It was a terrible thought, but something he couldn’t help.

Tony’s voice was soft. “Karen, can you please notify May?”

Karen piped up. “I’ve notified May, and Peter’s friends.”

Peter almost cried out for his AI. Man, he had missed her so much.

He sunk into the sheets of the hospital bed, and eyes fluttered open after a while. It must’ve been an hour at least.

The door clicked open and he turned his head to see Shuri slip into the room. She shifted uneasily and met his gaze.

“Hey, Peter.”

“Hey, Shuri.” His lips curled upwards, especially after noticing her perk up at her name being said and not ‘princess’ as normal.

She stepped towards him. “You look like shit.”

Peter laughed. “I know, but hey…I say the scars make me look more badass.”

Shuri rolled her eyes. “Okay, whatever you say, white boy.”

Peter gasped. “You don’t believe me, Shuri?”

“Well, I never said otherwise.” Shuri laughed at him and stopped at his bedside before sitting on the chair next to it. “Your aunt and friends are going to be coming over tomorrow, and I’m not sure how long they’ll stay for.”

Peter nodded slowly.

His mind drifted back to what Nakia had said about eight hours prior. Should he just go for it?

Typically, he wouldn’t and would shy away from doing anything drastic to anyone, especially with a princess. However, after having a near death experience and seeing Shuri get almost attacked made him rethink everything.

He turned his gaze to her hand that rested on the covers and held it in his own hands. “I saw the soldier in Wakanda, and how he almost attacked you.”

Shuri blinked. “You did?”

“Yeah.”

“I heard your wounds are terrible.”

“Well, they must be better than they were at first.” Peter shrugged.

Shuri’s eyes were filled with worry and concern. Perhaps he shouldn’t have said that. But he did and he couldn’t take it back.

His mind snapped and something orange shone from within Shuri, and he longed to be closer to her. To be closer to her soul, the soul that was attracting his own to it. Their souls almost entwining in a way that was hard to explain.

Soulmates wasn’t something Peter believed in, but he considered that this was when souls called for each other but didn’t necessarily mean that they were destined to be together.

Peter sat up ignoring Shuri’s complaint.

“Peter! You shouldn’t be moving!”

“Are you going to tell on me, princess?” His eyes shone in amusement.

Shuri stiffened. “I should!”

Peter leaned forward, grabbing her arm and tugging towards him. “Are you?”

Before Shuri could say anything or argue with Peter, the male pressed their lips together in a kiss. The kiss that his soul cried was long awaited and honestly should’ve occurred when Peter wasn’t still smelling blood from his body. But Shuri responded quickly and almost eagerly, leaning forward to take the strain off of Peter.

He sighed, pulling away slightly. “I doubt that is comfortable for you.”

Shuri snorted and stood fully upright. “Whose fault is that?”

Peter grinned. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

Shuri sighed, then perched on the bed with him. Their lips brushed against each other. “You’re lucky you’re one of my favourite people.”

Peter hummed, eyes slipping shut as they continued to kiss. “Well, then I am extremely thankful for my position in that list.”

The princess laughed, their eyes were closed as their foreheads rest against each other. It was calm, and Peter didn’t want anything to break it.

“Shuri…Can I ask you a question?”

“Mm?”

“Will you be my girlfriend?”

“Hmmm, let me think about it…”

“Oh, come on, Princess.”

“What would I get out of it?”

“Well, you can kiss me whenever you want.”

“Sounds very tempting.”

Peter chuckled. “You can have my clothes.”

“I already have your jacket.” Shuri teased. “You gave it to me when I met you when you were Spiderman and you stopped me from getting killed by an explosion.”

Peter groaned. “Oh man, I was hoping you’d never remember that. I felt so bad.”

Shuri hummed. “Just so you know…I’m never giving it back.”

“You looked better in it than I did.”

“Wouldn’t be that hard.”

“Princess!”

She only laughed at him.

Peter didn’t find anything bad about this situation. In fact, it was almost his ideal scenario. Save for him being in a hospital bed. He was seriously considering saying that but decided against it. Shuri would kill him if he said that to her. Not that he ever would...

Maybe, just maybe he would. Just to see what reaction he'd get.


	35. Reunion Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing this chapter :D
> 
> I wasn't expecting to have this chapter done as quickly as I had. But it means I have managed to work out the final three chapters (the last chapter being the link between this story and the next which will be known as Woven Fibres). You may not be expecting how the truth is revealed until you begin to read the next chapter >:D
> 
> Also, I swear I need to write more interactions between the kids of this series. They were so adorable.

The sun hadn’t risen yet, but still Peter woke up from a sleep that was too long. Shuri had drifted off to sleep on the bed beside his, and Peter sighed in relief knowing that he was still at the compound.

His sleep was somewhat restful and had no nightmares of the horrors that occurred to him.

A glance at the clock showed that he must’ve been asleep for almost ten hours. It wasn’t even four am.

He groaned and rolled over hissing at the feeling of his bandages rubbing against his back and chest. His eyes focused once more and saw the orange light emitting from Shuri’s chest where her heart was.

Her soul?

That would make sense. He swore he had heard something about stone carriers. Not directly, but while he was in the building and blacked out from pain.

Peter ran a hand down his face as he sat up, wanting to get up and actually eat. While he knew he shouldn’t be moving around, but still he didn’t want to sit around and doing nothing while his wounds healed. He hated doing nothing and knew that he could still do things even when everyone called him crazy for wanting to do so.

“Peter?”

Shuri’s voice was soft as she stirred awake, and their eyes met. Her eyes were half-lidded in tiredness. Peter pursed his lips.

“Go back to sleep, Shuri.”

“But…You shouldn’t be moving.”

“Yeah, well I don’t wanna sit around doing jack all.” Peter explained moving to the door. “Want me to get something for you?”

Shuri sat up fully and slipped off the bed. “No, I’ll come. It’s four am, and I’m awake anyway.”

Peter nodded slowly and the pair walked down the hallways. Peter tried to avoid looking at her, her soul was reaching for his and it somewhat scared him. He knew what was happening, he had enough evidence as to what was going on.

What he didn’t know was that the stones could chose people to carry them.

The Cosmic Entities didn’t have to tell him for him to figure out what it meant.

He was a carrier, but he just needed to ask what it meant.

Shuri was stumbling, her sleep pattern was thrown off and it was obvious that her sleep might not have been was resting as his was. He couldn’t be so sure that it would be the same for the days to come.

The hallways were lit dimly, and the lights turned off when the left rooms. Friday was looking out for them and guiding them through the halls that neither knew very well.

The kitchen’s lights flickered on, and Peter stepped back with a slight stumble. The lights had momentarily blinded him. He would need to get over that before he tried to even move on in life. Looks like that building did a lot to fuck up his senses.

Shuri opened the fridge, looking at whatever food was inside. “I dunno what to eat, do you?”

“Pancakes.” Peter responded reaching in, ignoring his proxy to Shuri, and grabbed the eggs and milk. “Do you wanna grab me the rest of the ingredients?”

“What do you need?” Shuri asked, looking at him with a slight perplexed expression.

Peter waved his hand and suddenly a hologram appeared of the pancake recipe. “Thank you, Friday.”

“You are welcome, Peter.” The AI chirped.

“Sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.” Shuri said, and Peter moved around to collect those ingredients as Shuri grabbed the butter and vanilla extract.

Peter hummed a tune to one of his favourite songs as he sorted the ingredients out. “Have you ever cooked pancakes before?”

Silence met his question.

Peter looked at her and noticed that she had a deep blush of embarrassment on her face. He tried to stifle his amusement. “Okay, I’ll guide you through cooking pancakes. This is because we can’t have the pancakes not being fluffy.”

Shuri looked at him and nodded slowly. “Okay.”

The pair moved around the kitchen easily, Peter was trusting on his instincts to keep an eye on Shuri and the cooking pancakes.

Once they were done, they sat down to eat it, with chocolate, bananas, strawberries and golden syrup. Peter hummed in appreciation. Man, he missed eating. That sandwich he had yesterday was barely enough.

While the pancakes were a larger meal and he shouldn’t be eating it really, Peter didn’t feel sick only extremely hungry.

Shuri chuckled. “You look like you could devour all the pancakes if I took my eyes off mine.”

Peter blushed, ducking his head. “I won’t…”

The princess only laughed loudly at his statement. She pushed the plate of pancakes towards him. “Do you want anything else?”

He shook his head, finding eating the pancakes awkward. His hunger won out, however, and began to eat all the pancakes. Shuri had moved to find something else to eat.

“Don’t eat all the pancakes! I’m still hungry!” She called.

“I’m leaving you some.” Peter protested, gesturing towards her plate that contained three pancakes on it. “What are you even doing?”

Shuri shrugged. “No idea, trying to find something else to eat.”

“I can give you a list.”

“Not American breakfast foods.” She snorted. “I doubt they are healthy.”

“They are filling, and it helps me to heal.” Peter pointed out, wanting to join Shuri but decided against it. Shuri could very well beat his ass if he tried to do something he shouldn’t.

It made him wonder why she didn’t just force Peter to stay in bed. Perhaps she knew he wouldn’t be able to sit still especially since he was wide awake.

He looked at the sky, and the sky was nowhere near lighting up.

“Peter?” Friday’s voice echoed around the room. “Are you capable of seeing someone?”

“Who?” Peter asked, jerking from Friday’s voice that broke through his thoughts.

“Your aunt May.” Friday explained.

“Yeah, you can tell her that I’m in the kitchen.” Peter said and smiled in thanks when Shuri dropped bacon onto the table.

The princess might’ve been annoyed by American breakfast foods, but she didn’t seem too bothered by it as much as she let on.

Shuri moved her food around, and Peter furrowed his brows. “Are you not hungry?”

“Not really.” Shuri muttered. “The pancakes were really filling.” Her brown eyes sparkled. “Though I doubt it filled you.”

Peter blushed. “Uh, sort of. I feel a little full. I’m worried I won’t be able to eat everything though, even if I need to eat it.”

The door opened and May walked in. Her expression was that of worry and relief. 

Shuri shifted, unease gnawing at her that Peter could tell. “Should I go?”

Peter wanted to say no but watched her leave. His soul seemed sad that she did go, but they couldn’t always be around each other, best he got used to it as quickly as possible.

However, his soul relaxed when May walked up to him. 

Not being blood meant nothing, and his soul reacted towards the one it considered a mother. Peter choked on a sob and buried his head into her shoulder, his body shaking with stress and tears.

“Oh, baby. You’re alright now.” May cooed, stroking his hair. “You are safe.”

Peter wanted to cry saying that he didn’t feel as though he was safe. Deep inside he knew he was. But it would take a while for his body to recover and calm down, all of his senses were just heightened and pushed to the limit.

“I’m scared.” Peter whimpered, sniffling as he didn’t bother moving his head.

With May he felt as though all of his worries were fading away and no longer were a problem. Her soul felt comforting and warm, encasing him in love and protection that Peter would always associate with her.

“Why, baby? Is it because of what happened?” May asked, not sure how to better phrase him being tortured.

He nodded. “Yeah, but that isn’t the whole thing. You know they all know I’m Spiderman, but they still…”

May kissed his forehead. “Petey, it is up to you whether or not you want them to know you being Zayden. It is your secret to tell, none of us can say it for you.”

Peter felt a fresh wave of tears wash over him. “Who else is here?”

“Edward and Michelle.” A new voice snapped Peter to pull away from May.

They turned to see Tina resting against the wall.

Her usually blank face showed worry and unease, as if something was bothering her. Peter knew Tina knew him being Zayden, she didn’t try to hide that fact. She walked towards them.

“I would say to tell them today, but you are stressed.” Tina looked out the window. “But…It’s not like it’s going to remain a secret for much longer.”

“What do you mean by that?” Peter asked, body shaking as he tried to stand on his own. His legs felt like they were about to give out, and Tina and May could tell it.

Tina sniffed. “I would say more, but really…The Cosmic Entities are already pissy with me enough as it is, and I quite like living, thank you very much.”

May raised an eyebrow. “You are a unique one.”

Tina held her hand out. “I’m Tina Wilson, one of the interns at Stark Industries, and one of Peter’s friends.”

“Nice to meet you, Tina.” May nodded, shaking her hand briefly.

Peter rubbed his face. “I don’t feel so good.”

Tina flinched back, for reason unknown. “Uh…Well maybe you should’ve stayed in bed.”

“I would’ve gone stir crazy.” Peter argued.

She shrugged. “Come on, I’ll take you to where Edward and Michelle are.”

Peter frowned. “Wait…Does MJ know…?”

“Nope.” Tina popped the ‘p’ sound and watched Mat collect the dishes to put in the fridge for later. “I told them what happened to you, but as far as I know, she is not aware of the fact you are Spiderman.” Her blue eyes twinkled slightly. “Or the fact you are Zayden.”

“She probably knows.” Peter said, voice lowering as he followed her down the halls. “She’s too smart for secrets to go unnoticed by her.”

Tina laughed. “Yeah, but I doubt she likes me. I think she and Shuri would get along splendidly though.”

Peter almost let out an audible groan. “They’d take over the world in less than a day.”

“Well, they would if I joined them.” Tina teased, lightly shoving Peter. Her expression softened. “I still think you should go back to bed.”

“I can’t!” Peter cried out. “I will lose my mind!”

The mind stone’s presence was enough to throw Peter off slightly. It had been a while since he was last around the mind stone, and the power stone’s influence was still etched into his mind.

If he came too close to the mind stone, he might lose it and his spider side might take over until they managed to contain it. That fact worried and stressed Peter out, and he wondered if possibly Tina knew what he was going through.

“Peter…Can I tell you something?” Tina asked, her voice quiet as if she was tentative of telling Peter whatever was going on with her.

“Yeah.” Peter nodded briskly.

Tina looked up at the ceiling. “I have a unique ability.”

“That I already guessed.”

“No, I’m serious. It’s an ability that is a curse more than a blessing.” Tina’s voice grew weaker. “And I don’t know how to explain it.”

Peter frowned and narrowed his eyes slightly at her.

It was then that her aura became clearer to him. It was more jumbled than all of the other souls in the building, which must be attributed to her ability. It was a mixed of many different things, weaving together barely there but enough to keep her from losing control.

What could her ability be that made her aura so different to everyone else’s?

“Well, it’s like being a seer. I can tell the future.” Tina said.

That confused Peter. “Tina…You’ve already told me this. I know this fact. Remember?”

Tina kicked the ground as she stopped in her tracks. “It’s not that simple!” It startled Peter as his eyes widened. “I can’t tell you everything, but what I know can not help the world, as what is happening now is different to what is happening elsewhere.”

“What are you talking about?” Peter asked, a single eyebrow raising.

“What do you know about the multi verse?” Tina asked, voice soft. It was so different to her usual brazen self that made Peter consider his words carefully.

“Not that much, but what does your ability have to do with the multiverse?”

“Because our world is one of many that is similar to it. There is a world where we do not exist but are merely characters in a story, and there is the overarching story – the one that is so closely connected to this one we are living in.” Tina waved her arms around her. “The timelines are drastically different, events are occurring that didn’t before, and things are occurring at different times to the main story.”

“Okay…”

“I know what happens in almost every one of the universes.” Tina finished. “So…I do know what is going to happen in this story, and all I can say is that I can’t say anything. If I do, people may not be happy with what is going to happen.”

Peter wanted to ask what she meant but remembered that she said she can’t say anything.

He decided to remedy this serious conversation with a joke.

“So, I guess I can’t ask you about my future?”

Her eyes were foggy. “No, you can’t.”

“Damn. Here I was hoping I’d marry a beautiful lady.”

“You have Shuri, mate. Are you saying she’s not beautiful?”

“No! You know what I meant!”

Peter’s heart flipped and his soul seemed lighter at Tina’s words.

“Hang on, Tina. I thought you said you couldn’t say anything about the future?”

His smirk caused Tina to punch him on the arm. “You did that on purpose!”

“Maybe.” His laughter echoed around the hallway as it lit up with the first rays of dawn.

Tina huffed. “Come on. I promised to bring you to Michelle and Edward.”

She grabbed his wrist and pulled him behind her.

“What if I want to go back to bed?”

“Well, you didn’t before so now you will have to deal.”

“Fine.”

Peter acted annoyed with Tina, but he knew he wasn’t. Judging by Tina’s amused look, she also knew he was acting to get her riled up in annoyance at him.

“You males are idiots, you know that right?”

“Well, you never stop telling me that since we first met.”

“Because I feel as though you need to be told repeatedly.”

“Rude. What have I ever done to you, Tina?”

“You were born.” Tina supplied, voice breaking off into a laugh as Peter’s indignant look.

“That was uncalled for, Tina.”

“Was it?”

“Shut up.”

“You love me.”

“You’re my friend. That kinda comes in the job description.”

Peter yelped as Tina’s fist came into contact with his shoulder again.

The door opened to reveal Michelle who looked at the pair in confusion. “I thought you said you’d bring him by later in the day.”

Tina smirked. “But it is later than when I first said it, isn’t it?”

Michelle rolled her eyes but allowed Tina and Peter into the room. “It’s still too early.”

“When did you wake up?” Peter asked, before noticing Ned and grinning brightly. “Ned!”

“Pete!” Ned leaped forward to hug his best friend. “You’re alright!”

Peter looked uneasy. “Well…In one piece at least.”

Ned looked at Peter’s bandages on his wrists and arms. “Is it taking a while to heal?”

“Of course, it will.” Peter glanced at Michelle who frowned at them. “But, hopefully it heals quickly.”

“The wounds will, but I doubt the PTSD heals that quickly.” Tina stated, as she collapsed on Michelle’s makeshift bed.

MJ sniffed at Tina but also perched on the bed, eyeing Peter critically. “You look worse than I was expecting.”

“What were you expecting?” Peter asked, sitting on Ned’s bed as his best friend also perched beside him.

MJ shrugged. “Not sure. I didn’t believe Tina’s words.”

Ned shot Peter a look. “Peter…She should know.”

“I should know what?” MJ asked, voice almost taking on a challenging tone.

Peter sighed and looked between Ned and Tina. The former was concerned about Peter revealing his secret while Tina looked bored and uninterested.

“You really don’t know why I’m here?” Peter asked, head tilting.

It was strange for Michelle to not be able to read everyone around her like normal. Truly, truly she already knew what was going on with him.

“You’re Spiderman.” MJ said, sounding as though it was a mere statement. She just needed confirmation of this fact.

“Yeah…” Peter trailed off.

MJ shrugged. “Well, that answers one of my many questions, but I think my other questions can wait until later.”

Peter sighed, falling backwards. “Friday?”

“Yes, Peter?”

“Don’t tell Bruce and Tony where I am.”

“Can I ask why not?”

“Because they’ll just drag me back to my hospital room and scold me for leaving. Just tell them I’m fine and only inform them if something bad happens.”

Friday said nothing for a beat of silence before; “If that is what you want.”

“Thank you, Friday.”

Tina hummed, eyes flickering up to him. “So…Peter, how is Shuri?”

Peter snapped his head towards Tina, his eyes wide.

Ned grinned. “Wait what?”

The door slammed open and Harley seemed to bound in, endless energy. Peter was envious of Harley. Apparently, Harley’s wounds weren’t as bad as Peter believed, considering since even Peter couldn’t find the energy to even attempt bounding like the other was.

He collapsed beside Peter, his eyes wide. “Yep! You should’ve seen them yesterday!”

“What are you going on about?” Peter asked, though he knew what Harley was alluding to.

Peter and Shuri had spoken a bit last night before both of them almost fell victim to sleep in their compromising position.

“You know.” Harley snickered. “He and Shuri are a couple.”

MJ looked surprised while Ned cried out in excitement.

“You are?!” Ned seemed so happy for his best friend.

Maybe Peter would be safe from the endless teasing Ned gave him about Shuri.

“Almost…” Peter whispered, and they had to crane their head to hear his words. “I need to run it by her mother and brother first.”

“I doubt they’d say no.” Tina said, looking at the sheet, tugging at some of the loose threads. “These threads are ripped…” Her voice trailed off and her gaze became unfocused.

Ned, MJ and Harley ignored Tina’s words, but Peter felt unease eat at him. Her words sounding a lot more ominous than Peter was expecting. That made him very worried and concerned for what was about to happen.

A shadow fell over the door, and they saw Shuri poke her head in.

“Are seriously all the teenagers in this room?” She asked, sounding very amused and didn’t even bother asking if she could come in. She perched on the other bed.

Peter shrugged. “Cooper isn’t here.” He paused. “Wait, are the Barton’s here?”

Harley nodded. “Yeah, they are. I think they are on the other end of the compound. All of us are here.”

“We should invite him then.” Tina offered, eye brows raising. “MJ and Ned have never met him.”

“You haven’t either.” Peter pointed out.

Tina looked at him, telling him that she didn’t care about that. “Then we’d introduce ourselves to him, dumbass.”

Shuri and MJ both let out a snort of laughter before turning to each other and beginning to chat. Peter worried about what they could possibly be chatting about but decided against it when Ned drew him and Harley into a conversation about Sci-fi films.

Tina soon joined MJ and Shuri in their debate over characters from their favourite book series’ and why they were great characters.

 

The day had gone by pretty calmly. Bruce and Tony had lectured Peter (as he suspected) for leaving his room despite not being cleared by Bruce or Helen.

Peter had been upset after the lecture, to the point Pepper had been easy on him, and even Rhodey decided to avoid lecturing him himself.

All the adults were located in one of the rooms talking about what had gone down.

Peter had been threatened by T’Challa, by the king was relieved Peter was alright and claimed now he now didn’t need to listen to Shuri worrying over him. Shuri had been very embarrassed about that statement. Thankfully Ramonda was okay with Peter and Shuri but wanted to meet Peter and May soon enough to judge him herself.

That scared Peter.

May and Laura decided to watch over the “children”.

Tina had claimed everyone was driving her insane, being the oldest of the lot. She didn’t really want to deal with them, but Peter saw through her façade. She wasn’t really fooling anyone though.

Cooper had complained that he wasn’t that much younger than Harley, despite the two or three-year age difference between them. He had given up and sulked when he realised that Lila and Cassie were talking to Peter about him being Spiderman.

Peter had teased Cooper about his jealousy, and when Cooper sniffed about him not being jealous Harley had dragged Cooper into a group pile. The girls stared in mild despair at Peter, Ned, Harley and Cooper who began to slightly tussle on the soft carpet.

Peter yelped. “Watch my wounds, guys!”

Cassie and Lila both grinned at each other before joining them in playing with Peter when Ned exclaimed to take down the bad vigilante. Shuri only smirked when Peter cried out for her when MJ joined in.

Tina nudged Shuri who laughed and playfully tapped Peter’s nose.

“Nah uh, Spidey.” Her voice lilted. “You’ll have to deal.”

“But my wounds…” Peter whimpered, but anyone could tell Peter was just exaggerating.

Bruce and Helen had confirmed that Peter’s wounds were healing a lot faster from the food he consumed and the plenty amount of rest he had over the past two days.

Shuri almost kissed him but merely laughed at his distressed expression. “You’ll deal with it.”

Tina and Shuri ended up sitting on the couch, turning on the TV to watch some of the movies that Friday put on after being asked. May and Laura shared an amused look. They found the entire thing enjoyable to watch.

At least the kids were getting along.

Peter hoped that his current secret wasn’t going to ruin his relationship with the others. He sincerely doubted that would happen. Cassie and Lila adored him, and even Cooper cared but that was only because Peter could tell via his soul.

Hey, being a stone carrier seemed to be a thing that Peter could get used to.

He decided to ignore the fact he briefly saw Infinity standing in the corner of the room. The Cosmic Entities could wait in talking with him. Now he just wanted to enjoy his time and forget about what had happened to him.

If acting like a kid made him forget it then he’d do it no matter what.

 

The day dragged on and soon Peter found himself back in his hospital bed. Harley was sound asleep in the bed opposite him. It was his and Harley’s idea to have them both in the same room. It helped ease Peter’s mind.

Shuri, MJ and Ned had crashed in the room as well. Cassie and Lila were curled up on one of the other vacant beds. Cooper had complained at first but ended up slipping into the room when he was convinced everyone was asleep.

Shuri found herself resting on the other side of Peter, head resting on Peter’s arm.

The vigilante sighed and tried to keep his mind away from what was bothering him.

Shuri rolled over and nudged him. “I know you’re awake Peter.”

“Hmm?” Peter opened his eyes to stare at his girlfriend. “What is it?”

“I should ask you that question. What’s wrong?” She asked.

“Something is bothering me.” Peter muttered, turning over to hold her hand in his. “If…I’ll tell you about it tomorrow.”

Shuri furrowed her brows. “Are you or are you just going to hide it from me and hope I don’t remember?”

Peter sighed and closed his eyes, resting his forehead against hers. “I promise I’ll tell you tomorrow. I just need to figure out how to tell you. That’s all.”

Shuri nodded slowly. “I’ll hold you to that, Peter.”

 

Peter felt unease gnaw at his mind. Tina’s words haunted him.

He felt as though there was a ticking time bomb, and it was getting closer and closer to going off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note on my tumblr you can ask me a bunch of things related to this series;
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/frozendestinywarrior
> 
> I'll get around to posting drawings of the series once I finish this story, and I will showing my version of Peter in the drawings as well. Or just to ask me random questions.
> 
> I'll always answer (unless I've been asked it before)


	36. Reunion Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mwahahaha, this chapter was a little rough at the end, but it immediately begins the next chapter. I almost got carried away before I remember that the next chapter is my favourite one (second to the Harley POV chapter that is).
> 
> This was really a filler, and further leading up to some future conflicts.

The next day was largely the same uneventfulness that had occurred the day before. Only this time there were more check ups on Peter and Harley. The day seemed perfect.

However, Peter couldn’t shake Tina’s words from the day previous.

It bothered him, and it was obviously bothering Tina.

Whatever it was had to be big if it was making Tina stressed and snappy.

Which she rarely was by the way.

The sun flittered through the cracks on the blinds. Peter was stretched across one of the many couches. Scott was seated at the end of said couch, focused solely on the video game on the TV. Peter couldn’t make it out but with a brief glance he saw it was Fallout 4.

Of course.

It seemed like a big joke that no-one got.

“How is Cassie?” Peter asked, breaking the relative silence around them.

Scott jerked in surprise before relaxing and resuming his game properly. “You saw her yesterday, and this morning.”

“That still doesn’t tell me how she is.” Peter scoffed playfully, lightly nudging Scott making him lose focus and his player died.

Scott groaned. “Peter! I almost had that Death Claw dead!”

“Question, Scott.”

“She’s fine, happy I guess that one of her favourite heroes is safe.” Scott hummed, head tilted back in thought about his daughter. “I’m sad she had to go home. You really barely saw her.”

Peter shrugged. “I understand why though. Suddenly with Harley and I back, you guys have your attention divided.”

Scott nodded jerkily. “Yeah, and last time our attention was divided you two were snatched up from under our noses.”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it. What’s done is done.”

“It shouldn’t have happened, that’s the thing!” Scott exclaimed. “We are meant to be able to protect people, and how can we when we couldn’t keep an eye on two teenagers?”

Peter sat up suddenly, his back and abdomen screaming at him from the movement. “Hey! It’s not your fault! You and Hope were aware I was Spiderman, so it didn’t cross either of your minds that something would happen.”

“Which means Hope and I feel the worst.” Scott mumbled, not looking at the teenager he believed he had let down.

Said teenager wanted to smack Scott upside the head for not realising the truth. If anything, while Harley shouldn’t have convinced him to wander so far, Peter was distracted and wasn’t keeping an eye on his surroundings.

Scott frowned. “I just…” He shook his head before looking at Peter in the eye. “When are you going to tell Tony the truth?”

“He knows I’m Spiderman.” Peter muttered, turning his head away from the adult. He felt so much like a child, it wasn’t funny.

“You know that isn’t what I meant.”

“I don’t know!” Peter cried, suddenly snapping, tears running down his face before he was even aware of it. “I don’t know when I will tell them, okay?! I’ve had so much shit happen to me in the past two weeks, that really I want to move on before I even think about that!”

His voice cracked, as Peter sniffed, and tried to wipe his tears away to no avail.

Scott cooed softly, scooping Peter into his arms, encasing him in protection that made Peter realise there was a significant difference in hugs between those who are parents and the ones who aren’t. A hand rubbed Peter’s head. Peter felt his temples throbbing in pain, as he whimpered at the feeling.

Scott sighed, and kept his voice low. “You’ve worked yourself up, Peter. Just try and close your eyes to sleep, okay?”

Peter barely nodded, the movement stabbing him down his back.

It felt too much like when the power stone was taking over his body. It was a sensation that he would never forget for as long as he lived.

There was a beat of silence, Peter trying to focus on Scott’s heartbeat as he still continued to cry. Scott’s aura wrapped around him, reminding him that he wasn’t alone and that letting his feelings out were healthy especially for his age.

“Scott? Peter?” Tony’s voice rang out.

Scott’s head shook slightly. “He worked himself up. I think what happened to him is catching up, and I don’t think it will be over so quickly.”

Peter hummed, keeping his head on Scott’s chest, even though a part of him longed for Pepper who he realised was with Tony.

 _I guess I was always a mamma’s boy._ He thought blearily, as his eyes slowly open to reveal the worried expressions of Tony and Pepper. _Perhaps it is better for me to go to my parents for comfort._

Pepper walked over and motioned towards him. “Can I…? Or is he comfortable where he is?”

Scott seemed to hesitate, obviously because he knew what Tony and Pepper didn’t. However, he too came to the same conclusion Peter had.

His arms came loose, allowing Pepper to gather Peter into her arms. Peter shifted slightly, craning his neck to tuck it into Pepper’s stomach. A part of him wondered if he wanted a younger sibling.  
Nathaniel was lovely, and even Lila and Cassie were great. Harley was pretty much his brother at this point. They had been through shit together, that would be expected. Even Ned was his brother, admittedly one family member he could talk to about virtually anything and everything.

Right now, though, Peter just relished in the attention.

He could ask them about younger siblings later when they knew who he was.

He just didn’t know when that would be.

Peter’s fingers curled around Pepper’s shirt, body adjusting to be more comfortable for them both. Tony had gotten a glass of water, apparently keeping away from any and all alcohol that might be located in the kitchen or it’s adjacent rooms.

“That scotch?” Scott asked, motioning towards the glass.

“No, it’s water.” Tony swished the liquid around. “Seriously, no sarcasm.”

Scott blinked. “You are capable of speaking in something that isn’t sarcasm?”

“Shut it, Lang.” Tony muttered, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

Peter decided to pipe up into the conversation. “Scott is a Queen Ant.”

“What?!” Scott exclaimed, reeling backwards in offense at Peter’s simple statement. “I am not!”

“You can control ants by excreting pheromones.” Peter turned his head and cracked open an eye to smirk at his fellow bug. “Last time I checked, only Queen Ants can do that.”

Scott stiffened as Tony laughed. “Peter, how could you say something so controversial yet so brave?”

Scott gaped. “Tony! Not you too!”

“Didn’t you also name a female ant, Anthony?” Peter piped up. “Mate, do you even know the difference between the bug you are meant to represent? If not, that is bringing shame on your family, and on your cow.”

Pepper chuckled, her fingers felt soft against Peter’s temples as she rubbed them to ease any unease that had settled just beneath his skin.

“You did not just bring Mulan into this!” Scott gasped.

“Maybe I did, what are you going to do about it?” Peter tilted his head back in a challenge.

Scott looked around before folding his arms just as Rhodey, Hope, Bucky, T’Challa, Thor, Loki, Valkyrie, Bruce and Nakia walked in. “Then, I’ll make a man out of you.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Like I’m going to take lessons like that from a guy that screeched when a bird flew past his head.”

“I was not expecting it, and I was answering its mating call.” Scott responded, his cheeks gave away his embarrassment however.

Peter sat up, eyes sparkling in curiosity. “Is that a reference to Until Dawn?”

“What? Until Dawn? Never heard of it?” Scott looked and sounded extremely perplexed.

The teenager looked at the other adults. “Have any of you heard about Until Dawn?”

Most of them shook their heads, but Tony and T’Challa nodded. Obviously mentioned to them by Harley and Shuri, respectively. Peter’s gaze landed on Valkyrie, his face lighting up.

“Val!” He cried, leaping up and off the couch.

He momentarily missed the warmth Pepper naturally radiated, as he threw his arms around Valkyrie. The warrior stiffened in surprise, but returned the hug to his excitement, and obviously knew that it was a soldier that attacked her and her Pegasus and not him.

“I’m sorry about your Pegasus.” He mumbled.

She snorted. “That wasn’t you. I know you could never hurt him.”

Peter nodded, relieved as he let his body relax. She didn’t hate him. Not like he really thought she would, Loki would’ve mentioned something like that to him if she was, but it was still a relief to get a confirmation.

“I’m glad you’re alright though.” Peter glanced at Tony. “And you too…D-Tony.”

Thankfully no-one caught his slip up, except Bucky who seemed to narrow his eyes at him suspiciously and look between him and Tony.

Tony frowned. “You were about the attacks?”

Peter nodded meekly. “I was forced to watch those attacks and couldn’t do anything. Harley didn’t see them, but he isn’t stupid so he probably knows what might’ve happened.” Peter laughed bitterly.   
“There could be several ways you could take that statement.”

Before anyone could say anything, Thor mused Peter’s hair playfully. “Well, I’m glad you are alright, Spider. All of us are. You and Harley really worried us, and you being out for quite some time when we finally found you also worried us.”

“Anyway…” Hope sat down next to Scott. “What is Until Dawn?”

“It’s a video game.” Peter explained and quickly looked up. “Friday…Do we have it?”

“We do have a physical copy.” The AI replied.

Rhodey grinned. “Tony likes to collect video games.”

Peter snickered when Tony tried to argue his case, but, of course, Rhodey was having none of it. The game quickly started, with the lights dimming just enough to set a mood for horror.

Peter had never actually played the game himself, but if it was like any other video game with quick-time events then his senses would warn him of what to do before it showed on screen. This would make it a little unfair, considering he knew how to kill off every single character from the multiple let’s plays he watched.

He wondered if the deaths would be too gruesome but shrugged that thought off.

Hey, cartoon violence is a nice break from actual violence. If it got too much then he’d stop the game, and either change to a nicer game or let them leave.

There was no way he would make someone sit through something they weren’t comfortable with.

Peter was waiting for the actual gameplay to start. The subtitles were on for everyone else, as his could hear everything perfectly and louder than them.

Tony hummed in slight discomfort but made no notion to leave. Peter was sat between them as that was the only spare space, and Tony refused to let Peter sit on the ground when there was a spot for him.

Thor, Loki, Valkyrie, Bruce, Rhodey and Scott sent him looks telling him that he would have to tell them eventually and couldn’t keep putting it off.

He’ll wait for the time when it’s right, not before a horror game.

“Jotun.” Thor teased, when they first saw the fire. “The beast is a Jotun.”

Peter grinned when Loki grabbed the nearest object to beat Thor upside the head with it. Thor managed to stifle his laughter to avoid distracting everyone from the game play in front of them.

“You are the worst brother.”

“You love me.”

“I have no idea where you got that incorrect statement from, as it was certainly not from me.”

Rhodey hissed to Tony. “Sounds like us.”

Tony snorted. “I’d like to say we are less violent.”

“Occasionally.”

“Don’t influence Peter. I don’t want another person turning against me.”

Peter paused the game to turn to look at Tony. “Bold of you to assume I was ever on your side in the first place.”

That sent several of the others into fits of laughter, only made louder at Tony’s betrayed expression.

“This must be what betrayal feels like!”

Peter managed to catch himself before he spoke about Siberia, but since his mouth opened Tony must’ve realise what he was going to say.

So, Tony saved them, and Bucky, from that awkward conversation. Especially since Tony didn’t know that Thor, Loki and Bruce actually had a good idea of what happened in Siberia.

“And here you were my favourite kid.”

“Who would you replace me with?” Peter snorted, his words hitting a bit too close to home.

Pepper stepped in before they could forget that Peter was introducing them to one of his favourite horror games. “Don’t we have something else to do?”

Bucky stuffed a bunch of popcorn into his mouth, motioning it towards Scott who quickly grabbed it and kept it away from the solider who whimpered at the loss of the food.

Peter huffed and turned back to the TV, resuming the game.

After about two hours, Peter had managed to divide the adults on their opinions of the characters.

Most of them agreed Emily was a bitch and needed to be taken care of as soon as an opportunity rose. Peter decided to not tell them how each of the characters could die, not wanting to skew their choices.

Tony had already figured out that The Stranger was a good guy, and the others have their questions. Bucky agreed with Tony and was quite set in his decision to side with him.

Pepper had a strange feeling about Josh, and already Thor was set on Josh being the main antagonist. Valkyrie and Scott were also set on Josh being someone they can’t trust.

It would make sense at first, but something was itching at the back of Peter’s mind.

It was a wendigo that was the main villain and he bit back a cry as his mind twisted and cried out for something. Peter winced when they decided to take a break.

He rubbed his temples, which caused Pepper to hand him some water and medication. “Here, these are some headache pills that Bruce and Helen manufactured to help you.”

“Thank you.” Peter mumbled, taking the objects and swallowed the pills. His throat felt raw and pained but pushed that aside as he decided to just continue drinking the water. It felt really uncomfortable, but he placed the glass on the table as he sat down on the carpet.

His fingers drew shapes on the material, it felt incredibly soft to the touch. He heard Rhodey walking back into the room and sitting on the chair nearby.

“Peter are you alright?”

Peter sniffed, his eyes glancing at Rhodey before looking back at the menu screen of the game. “My head is just really killing me.”

“Why?” This time it was Tony, who handed Rhodey a can of coke. He motioned his can to Peter, silently asking him if he wanted it. Peter shook his hand and Tony cracked it open but poured some of the drink into Peter’s empty glass.

Peter decided to humour Tony and raised an eyebrow as his lifted the glass to his lips.

Tony caught it. “We have to make sure you have enough sugar in your blood stream, your metabolism demands more sugar than ours.”

“So, why ask if you are just going to give it to me anyway?” Peter asked, eyes closing as he enjoyed the sensation of the drink running down the back of his throat. “Kind of defeats the purpose of asking me, doesn’t it?”

“He wanted to give you the chance to back out, but when Tony is set on something he won’t let up.” Rhodey said, as if Peter didn’t already know that.

It was the reason Tony still believed Peter and Harley were alive despite knowing they were with Hydra who were notorious for killing some of their ‘patients’.

Peter almost chuckled but decided against it. His throat still felt raw. He stared at the liquid in the glass, wondering why his mind was going crazy.

Why was his mind going crazy when Until Dawn came up?

It was only Wendigos…

Wendigos…

Peter felt his body change, his view turning orange and staring at a being that was purple and domineering. His limbs had been twisted are were elongated to the point they weren’t human. Large orange wings stretched out beside him, scars ran along them, and they seemed to be faint and looked as though the wounds had spiderwebs keeping them together.

The vision was blurry as Peter let out a loud screech that wasn’t entirely human.

Peter jerked himself back to reality with a scream and chucked his glass of coke across the room. It shattered against the wall, the coke splashing on the white walls and the galaxy carpet. The carpet made his head swim with a sky that wasn’t from Earth, and the purple figure returned, his hand crushing Peter’s chest and ribs.

“Peter!” Tony and Rhodey were immediately at his side.

“Pete was is it?” Tony asked, his hands were gently rubbing down one of Peter’s arms.

He was shaking and shivering. That first vision showed him with the power stone’s influence, the wings…The soul stone…

Could that figure be Thanos?

The one who is after the Cosmic Stones?

It would make sense.

Peter sobbed, tears trickling down his cheek. “I…I don’t know!”

“Memories of what happened to you?” Rhodey asked.

Tony cursed. “I shouldn’t have given you that glass of coke.”

“Not your fault.” Peter croaked.

He could hear the others at the edge of the room, uncertain if they should come any closer.

Peter whimpered, arms trying to warm up his skin. Flames danced along his fingertips, which surprised all the adults that had no idea about his affinity with fire.

“I’m cold…”

Pepper broke out of whatever daze she was in and pushed towards him. Tony and Rhodey were about to step back, but Rhodey did and placed his hand on Peter’s hair before stepping back.

Pepper crouched beside Peter, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Her skin began to glow and heat up from the Extremis.

Peter curled towards her, craving the heat. Somewhat needing it as well.

His mind was cold.

The soul stone was tugging at him, warning him of a threat.

It was overwhelming.

Peter whimpered. “It’s cold…”

“No, it’s not.” Tony spoke, voice barely above a whisper as he shared a worried look with Pepper.

Pepper’s skin was incredibly warm, but any hotter and there was the threat that his skin would begin to burn off.

“Cold.”

“Friday turn up the heating.”

“Yes, boss.”

It surprised the adults that Karen was nowhere to be found, but remember she was with May and Laura after agreeing to help watch Nathaniel.

Peter’s fingers curled, feeling his body twist uncomfortably.

His mind was twisting, trying to separate reality from those visions. He wondered if Vision was nearby.

He felt the raw power of the mind stone as said android appeared in the room, instantly having pain run through his veins.

“Please…No…No more.” He begged. “No more of the stones, please.”

Somehow Tony and Rhodey managed to understand his ramblings and were able to communicate it to the others. Bruce, Thor and Loki hung in the room as Scott and Bucky got Vision out of the near vicinity.

The android was so confused, but after they realised that Peter’s mind must’ve been affected by the stones while he was with Hydra Vision was accepting of the situation. He promised to check everything, keeping him away from the fragile teenager but let him do something for him in the meantime.

Peter sighed, relaxing into Pepper’s side. The Extremis was handy in these situations, as not even Peter was fully aware of his body feeling cold. Was his spider side trying to protect him? It seemed like it, even if it had a strange way to do so.

“I’m sorry.” Peter mumbled, his voice coming out in a slight drawl. His body felt so cold and his mind seemed to be shutting down. “I don’t know what happened.”

“Were you tortured?” Tony asked, ignoring the shocked expressions from everyone else.

Peter was relieved. He knew it was stupid to ignore what happened, which everyone else wanted to do – or at least wait until Peter brought it up himself.

“Peter.” Tony’s tone made Peter look up at him. “Please, answer me. We can’t help if we don’t know.”

The teenager nodded numbly. “My wounds…Most of them were from the power stone, some around my wrists and ankles were from the chains…But most were from that. I don’t know, Red Skull had managed to get his hands on the power stone.” Even if Peter wanted to stop his talking, he couldn’t. Now that he had started, his mind didn’t want him to stop. “He was going to use it on Harley, but I knew with my enhanced healing it wouldn’t affect me as much, except it did. The stone was able to quench my own powers and abilities and rendered them pretty much useless.”

He let out a sob, shaking his head as the memories returned to him slowly. “I was confused, and Red Skull used the stone to keep me from falling asleep. He brought up my energy and strength just enough to keep me from hunger and sleep even though I hadn’t eaten in the entire time I was there and slept for an hour at a time every other day.” His voice cracked before fading to a tone that was barely louder than a whisper. It was a wonder how anyone besides Pepper heard him.

“Harley was let it easy. I wasn’t allowed to eat, but if Harley wasn’t allowed to eat or sleep then I was less willing to even listen to their orders. To make me pliant they had to show they were being the least bit hospitable towards him.” Peter finished, legs curling up as he suddenly felt extremely cold.

Was he still in the building? In the mountain?

Was he just imagining him being in the compound?

Was the power stone making him hallucinate that everything was fine?

Did he actually injure the others?

Did they actually live, or were they dead and he was just being told they lived?

Peter’s mind swam as he felt tears bubble up and over his eyes.

“Oh, baby.” Pepper whispered, her voice was so soft and drew Peter back to reality. To what was happening. “Look at you. It’s alright. You’re safe here with us.”

Peter shivered and nodded jerkily. He wanted to believe her, and maybe truly he was okay.

Tony and Rhodey glanced at each other.

Rhodey seemed uneasy, and Peter knew why. It seemed as though everything was out to defy Peter and his right to a happy life. Rhodey couldn’t even console him, but even Peter doubted that his real name could do that since no-one presence seemed to be working.

A few moments passed before the others came closer, bodies tense and waited to see what Peter’s reaction would be. He didn’t mind and felt his muscles relaxing as he recognised that he was protected. These were extremely powerful people around him.

Everyone here was safe.

When Peter managed to wriggle his way away from Pepper and Tony – somehow, as they both wanted to keep him close – he slipped towards Rhodey. Desperately searching for something but not sure what. Bucky was also sat with Rhodey, tension rose between them, but Peter didn’t care.

Rhodey knew both of his secrets, and was his uncle, and Bucky knew what it is like to be actually tortured by Hydra themselves. Tony knew, and was his father, but Peter felt uneasy bringing it up. Especially since Tony didn’t know Peter was Zayden.

Turns out that wouldn’t be the case for much longer.

Rhodey placed his hand on Peter’s head. “You alright now?”

Peter shook his head and mumbled. “Not sure if I ever will be.”

They watched Peter in worry and concern, and Peter contemplated explaining what his body went through with the tortured. That would be too hard to explain and could raise more questions than answers, and some questions Peter himself felt unable to ask.

He was still a little unstable.

The answers would be poor, or they’d send him into another crying fit.

God, he must look terrible.

Rhodey sighed and said something without even thinking it. “Zayden…”

That caused Tony and Pepper to snap their heads towards Rhodey. 

Peter felt his blood drain from his body, and Rhodey tensed when he realised everyone heard him.

“Oh fuck…”

“Why did you just call Peter Zayden?” Tony asked, as if he already put the pieces together and looked at Peter as if he was looking at a ghost.

Rhodey gulped. “Um…I didn’t mean for you to hear that.” He sent his nephew an apologetic look. “Sorry.”

Peter just wanted the ground to eat him up alive.


	37. Uncertainty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter before the epilogue.
> 
> Man so many allusions towards the next book.
> 
> You thought this book with angst filled, you aint seen nothing yet. Well until the last act which is just setting up for Infinity War really. 
> 
> Before you ask any questions about Tony and Pepper's reactions - they are still in shock for the majority of the chapter. Next book clears up their feelings and reactions towards the others. This is because literally the next book actually starts right after this chapter (the day after in the timeline), and all ties of this book will be cleared up unless of course they linger into the next two/three books (Yes I have up to Avengers 4 non compliant story planned out)

“Rhodey…” Tony warned eyes focused firmly on his best friend.

Rhodey held his hands up. “Seriously, Tones. I didn’t mean for you to find out, I should’ve just kept my mouth shut. It wasn’t my secret to tell.”

Tony stepped forward, and Peter flinched away in fear.

That action caused ice to fill the room.

Tony stared at Peter in shock, surprise and even fear.

Peter knew Tony wanted to yell at Rhodey, probably act rashly maybe. But, he was conflicted.

He had just found out the truth and already he had scared Peter away from him.

Tony’s voice dropped in disappointment. “You said nothing, not even telling me Peter…Zayden was alive.”

Rhodey sighed and nodded solemnly. “I should’ve said something to you about that…I should’ve. But, I didn’t know how to word it. If I just said that I had thought I saw him you’d be even more confused. If I knew it was an intern then it wouldn’t take you long to figure it out.”

Bucky screeched slightly. “I knew it! I knew you reminded me of Howard!” Bucky laughed, realising the tension but wanted to try and erase it if he could. “Ah, Starks have a very unique sense to them.”

Peter blinked. “What are you talking about?”

Bucky tugged Peter up and threw his arm – human one – around Peter’s shoulders, trying to ignore the flinch that occurred. “Howard was one of my best friends. You think I wouldn’t recognise the Stark stubbornness and personality people said you had.” Bucky paused and tilted his head. “Well, they never said you had a Stark personality, but how they spoke of you reminded me of Howard.”

The teenager didn’t know how to feel about Bucky’s words, but it warmed him to know that. He figured some traits were inherent for certain family trees.

Thor hummed, distracted. “Just saying, Peter also reminded me more of Pepper.”

Everyone turned to look at the others, who were so silent they had been momentarily forgotten.

Peter saw Pepper’s aura shift. Pride of her son that she didn’t raise turned out a lot like her, even without any of her influence over him.

Thor nodded to himself. “Yeah, he’s not as rash.”

Bruce muttered. “I think the whole Vulture incident proves he is a Stark considering I don’t think that plan was thought through very well.”

Tony paled as his gaze never wavered from Peter’s. Peter shifted, face flushing from that horrendous memory.

It was his first time going after a bid baddie, and he almost screwed it up big time.

Rhodey looked at them. “You already knew?”

“Knew what?” Valkyrie asked, voice dripping in boredom. “Look, you know Heimdall, the one who sees everything in the nine realms, right? He knew about Peter being Spiderman and Zayden long before we did. He informed us, but we talked with Stephen and Wong, two Masters of Mystic Arts, and they helped devise a plan to get Peter to come to us. At least he’d feel the ability to run if he needed or wanted to.”

Tony shook his head, becoming more reclusive. “Did everyone know?”

Scott shifted, kicking the ground slightly. “I found out by accident, but that’s only because I am the only one here with a child. I sort of figured it out by myself.” He shrugged at Tony and Pepper’s looks. “Seriously, you two love Peter more than you love Harley, and anyone with a pair of eyes or ears could tell you that. I know how adults sound when they talk about their child, and that’s how you two sounded…I really just needed clarification.”

Rhodey folded his arms. “It doesn’t matter, Tony, Pepper…Please don’t do anything stupid.”

Finally, everything caught up with Peter and he jerked away with a growl.

Everyone paused and stared at Peter with wide eyes.

Peter walked towards one of the windows, keeping his back to the adults. His mind whirling in anger and irritation.

This wasn’t meant to happen!

This must’ve been what Tina wanted to warn him about.

Peter spat, eyes glinting more black and red than their usual hazel. “This wasn’t meant to happen! Not fucking like this!” He whipped around, eyes narrowed. “If it was truly up to me, no-one would know I was Spiderman and no-one would know I was Zayden.”

Rhodey opened his mouth and Peter hissed.

“I _was_ Zayden! I am not Zayden. I am Peter, and Zayden was my birthname.” He raised his head, not wanting to admit how flat his words sounded to his ears. “I wasn’t raised as Zayden, it is a reminder of who I could’ve been had I been anyone else’s child!”

His words turned colder and sharper at the end. He felt remorseful when he saw Tony and Pepper flinch back, tears already prickling at their eyes.

Realising his temper was flaring, Peter turned tail and bolted out of the room.

“Pete!” The adults tried calling after him.

Peter didn’t even realise where he was going, stumbling through the hallways as his eyes blurred with unshed tears, He had cried to much that day, he didn’t want to cry any more.

He didn’t know where he was going, and thankfully Friday was keeping an eye on him. Opening the doors for him to let him continue his meander around the compound.

Somehow, he found himself in the gym.

It was a stupid place to be really, his muscles still ached, and yesterday with the playful tussle he had with the others didn’t help.

“Friday don’t tell anyone where I am.” Peter muttered, before he began to climb one of the walls to where there was an alcove in the wall.

He figured, from the scent that still lingered faintly, that this used to be Clint’s favourite spot. Peter huffed and stared at the ceiling from his new perch. He wiped the tears away from his eyes.

God, how much he hated crying. Why was it so difficult to stop crying?

“Spidey?”

The scent of Vibranium and Wakandan flora flooded his nose. Turning his head, he saw Shuri staring up at him, eyebrows furrowed.

“Friday said you didn’t want any visitors.” Shuri said, looking up at him. “Are you alright?”

Peter snorted. “Alright is an understatement. Seriously.”

Shuri frowned. “Can you come down?”

Peter sighed and relaxed before climbing down to her. “Sorry if I come off as snappy.”

The princess was confused, as if not fully expecting Peter to be snappy. He didn’t blame her, really.

“You said you had something to tell me.” Shuri said without pressing the remark.

Peter froze, mind racing to what had occurred just moments prior.

“Uh, yeah. I did.”

“What is it?” She asked, slightly leaning towards him, eyebrow raised as she looked at him scrutinising him carefully.

Peter sighed. “Promise you won’t be angry at me?”

Shuri frowned. “Why would I be angry?”

“You know my Spider secret, obviously. That isn’t the only secret I have.”

“You have an STI.”

At Shuri’s expression Peter burst out laughing, event though it isn’t even funny. He shook his head, but Shuri seemed to laugh at her words as well. The tension and uncertainty in the room drained out, as they fell into easy conversation – which surprised Peter.

“No, no, no. I’m not even sure I can.” Peter laughed. “Not that I’ll ever test it.”

Shuri smirked lightly. “Not that I’d let you anyway.”

“Thanks.” Peter chuckled. “But, it’s not that bad.”

“So?” Shuri seemed to prance around him as they walked to one of the benches to sit down on.

Peter stretched his legs out. “Well, I dunno how to start it off.” He leaned his arms on his knees and sighed heavily. “But, I guess…My real name is Zayden James Stark. The lost son of Tony and Pepper.”

There was silence as Shuri processed his words.

“I’m sorry. What?”

“Come on, princess. Don’t make me repeat it.” Peter groaned. “They already know, before you ask. They found out like ten minutes ago or something.”

“Fifteen minutes and forty-three seconds ago to be exact.” Friday piped up.

“Thank you, Friday.” Peter rolled his eyes in exaggeration.

Shuri frowned and looked at him, critically as she tried to figure out what game it was playing. Deciding he wasn’t playing any games, she looked back out across the gym.

“Um…So, you are telling the truth?”

“Why would I lie about something like that? Like, no-one even knows about Zayden being Tony and Pepper’s lost son in the first place. So, why would I, a random teenager from Queens, know about him?” Peter asked, flicking his hand mildly but slightly in irritation.

“Well…I don’t know how to take it. But, I guess it explains a lot.” Shuri said. “I am just in shock.”

Peter laughed bitterly. “Yeah, I guess everyone is.”

“What are you going to do about your parents?”

“I stupidly told them they I wasn’t Zayden and that they aren’t my parents.”

“But they are.”

“I know. They don’t feel like my parents.”

“Because you weren’t raised with them. You should give them a chance.”

“But I have May!”

Peter and Shuri stared at each other, Peter was border line going to go crazy again. Why was he life so fucking difficult? Why did this have to happen? How were Tony and Pepper going to take it once the shock wore off? Would they even want to be around him?

“Peter?” Friday’s voice broke the silence. “May I suggest something Karen told me?”

 

Pepper could only stare after Peter as the door slammed shut behind him, she figured Friday was letting him get away. If not, Karen had something to do with it.

Pepper turned her head to stare at everyone, taking in their expressions.

Peter is Zayden, Zayden is Peter.

Her lost son and her intern are one in the same.

Obadiah wanted to kill their son.

Richard had taken their son and raised him as their own.

Peter said he wasn’t Zayden.

Peter said he didn’t want to be their child.

No, he didn’t say that. He just insinuated that.

Pepper sat down, rubbing her eyes, and felt Hope rub her back in reassurance.

Scott shifted. “Don’t take Peter’s words to heart. He’s a teenager, they are rash and moody no matter who their parents are.”

Tony took a deep breath. “You guys knew.”

Silence.

Tony yelled. “You guys knew and said _nothing?!_ ”

“Tones…We promised Peter we…”

“You could’ve said anything, Rhodey!” Tony cried, whirling to face his best friend. “You’re meant to be my best friend, my brother!”

Rhodey cried. “I was going to! I swear, Tones, I was going to! But Peter ignored me when I figured it out on my own. How would he react to you if you figured it out? He made it clear that while you and Pepper are his parents, blood means little to him. The only family he knows are the Parkers. The only life he knows is the life he was raised in!”

Tony shook his head. “Why didn’t you just say you got information that Zayden was alive?”

“You wouldn’t have stopped until you found him.” Rhodey whispered, voice cracking. “Then, how would I explain it to Peter? He would’ve known I told him something.”

“He is my son, Rhodey!”

Rhodey nodded. “It was selfish of me, Tones. I know that, and I’m truly sorry. But like we said, it wasn’t our secret to tell. Peter should’ve told you when he was ready to tell you.” He laughed, but it was forced. “Now, I fucked it all up. If there is anyone who Peter should ignore it’s me.”

Pepper felt a sob rise up in her throat, and Hope tugged the older women to her side. No words were shared between the two females, and no words needed to be shared.

Scott shifted in his spot as he hovered slightly behind Hope. “I think we can all agree that we all fucked up here.”

Tony’s body shook slightly, muscles tensed. Pepper could see him struggling to keep his emotions in check, and not go after Peter.

Everyone knew that Peter needed space to calm down.

“Tony? Pepper?” A feminine voice startled everyone out of whatever they were in.

May and Karen were in the doorway. The robot cat flicked her ear as she eyed the two Starks.

“Yep, I can see where Peter gets his reactions from.” Karen replied, sounding incredibly bored and slightly pissed off before her body arched and her fur bristled. “And Rhodey! You absolute _fuckwit_! Why did you say that? Did you even know how close Peter was to telling them the truth?!”

Rhodey didn’t know how to react at Karen’s hiss and snarl, so he just flinched back at the venom that seemed to lace her tone as best as it could.

May sighed. “Karen…Why don’t you go and find Peter?”

The AI sniffed. “No need, Shuri heard yelling and went off to where Friday said Peter was. Tina forced her to go, so I went to you to tell you what happened.”

The said adult looked sad, but more sympathetic towards them. “Peter will get over it, eventually. This is a secret he has kept pretty much since he was four or five. He was like that to Ben and I at first when we found out he got into physical fights at school, but because we lived together he got over it.”

“We don’t live together.” Pepper muttered, voice showing her disappointment of missing all of Zayden’s life.

May nodded. “Yeah, I know. But we can’t force Peter to stay here. It will be terrible for his mental health.”

Bruce cried. “But he still needs to be monitored for his wounds.”

Karen shifted. “I can do that. Even if I can’t, Peter will make it so that I can. I know he’ll want to get out of here as soon as possible.”

Tony blinked, Pepper could see unshed tears. “Did we fuck up?”

“No.” May said curtly. “Peter doesn’t see you as his parents. That isn’t to say he never will, it’s just it will take some time.”

Pepper looked at her. “What do we do then?”

May smiled. “Take your time and let him come to you. Teenagers like to be given a choice, and hate feeling as though they have no choice.”

Karen chuckled. “I have a feeling that if Harley remains with you then that’s another point in your favour. Both boys will be suffering PTSD, and Peter more extreme, which will mean that they will rather like having the other nearby. And since almost everyone here has PTSD, then Peter will feel better being with people who understand what he’s going through.”

She blinked. “There’s still some time before the holidays are over…”

May shook her head. “You know Peter.”

“I know, but it’s worth a shot.”

Tony bit his lips, trying to keep his tears at bay. “Th…Thank you, May.”

May smiled. “Peter is my son, as much as he is yours. I care about his happiness a lot more than you can imagine.”

Scott piped up. “I can.”

“That’s because you have a kid.”

“Yeah…” Scott whispered, a small smile in place.

Tony and Pepper looked at Scott, who looked away as if he didn’t want to see the longing that was certainly in their eyes.

 

Harley bristled and stared at Peter. “You are leaving? Tony and Pepper know the truth and you are just getting up and leaving?!”

“I need to get away.” Peter said, firmly ignoring Tony and Pepper who were talking with May. As if he couldn’t hear their conversation.

Karen was torn between the adults and the teenagers. Did she want to discuss Peter with the adults or did she want to ensure that Peter was still relatively stable.

“No, you don’t!” Harley insisted and he sounded desperate. “What are you going to do? I know you will just ignore it whenever you have any panic attacks.” His voice lowered to a soft hiss. “Because you are so much like your father, the resemblance is uncanny. It’s surprising no-one had put two and two together earlier.”

Peter looked away from Harley, eyes distant and unsure. “I don’t…”

“Please.” Harley begged. “They are still your parents, Peter. Regardless of how you feel, you can at least say bye to them. I know you weren’t going to.”

“How do you already know me better than others?’ Peter asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Because, like I said, you are so much like your parents.”

Peter wanted to argue, but if Harley said it, then it must be so. His eyes were downcast. “Harley, I’m still not sure.”

Harley sighed, rubbing his own arms, glancing at the adults. “Look, how you leave this place will affect your relationship in the long run.”

Peter was silent and sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. Harley said nothing but believed Peter would make the right choice in the end.

Karen lifted her head, eyes blinking.

Peter began to walk towards Tony and Pepper, his steps were light and barely noticeable. Tony and Pepper wouldn’t have noticed Peter if they weren’t occasionally glancing in his direction.

May looked at her nephew. “Peter? Do you…”

“Can I speak to them alone?” Peter asked, voice soft to his aunt.

“Of course.”

Thankfully everyone got the hint and left the three Starks alone.

Not a good thing over all.

Peter was fearing what was going to happen.

Starks weren’t known for being rational in some situations.

Sadly, the affects of the power stone hadn’t fully left Peter’s mind or body. His instincts were still running on the spider side.

“Zayden…” Pepper started.

Peter snapped. “It’s Peter.”

Tony stiffened, apparently their calm interaction had taken a sudden swerve. “Peter don’t.”

Peter opened his mouth to argue before he realised what he was going to do. He snapped his jaw shut, whipping his head away with a low growl.

“You have no right to act as my parents.”

Pepper hung her shoulders. “Peter…We, we know that. But we didn’t want you to leave us, but we had no idea that Obadiah wanted to kill you. You have to understand.”

The teenager blinked, why was he beginning to cry again? He had cried so much, he just wanted to stop crying.

“I understand, I do…I’ve known about it for about thirteen years. And now it has been revealed…” Peter trailed off, refusing to look at them.

They would certainly be disappointed in having him as a son.

Tony shook his head slowly. “We understand, I guess…I’m glad that it’s been revealed.” Tony muttered quieter. “I will be speaking with the others about it. I’m not sure how the others refused to even mention anything about you…Well, Zayden being alive.”

“I’m surprised they didn’t just tell you the full truth.” Peter hissed, body tensing in a way that was reminiscent of Tony trying to be aloof and irritated with a situation. “I mean they told you I was Spiderman without a care.”

“Peter!” Pepper cried, shocked by his words and tone. “They said you were Spiderman because of the risk of what could happen if we didn’t know. Harley would’ve survived longer in the cold than you can. They were doing it to protect you.”

Peter spat, still refusing to look at them. “Because you guys didn’t, when I was an infant and even two weeks ago..”

Those words were the worst ones to say.

Tony and Pepper froze, eyes widening and pepper’s eyes narrowed in anger while Tony’s filled with tears.

“Pete…” Tony whispered, voice cracking on the word.

Pepper stepped forward, her body beginning to glow with Extremis. “Don’t you dare bring that up! We had no idea that Obadiah was going to do what he planned. He had us fooled.”

“Because Jarvis wasn’t installed in the building.” Peter muttered.

“Because it was a temporary building. No point in installing an AI if you’re just gonna remove it two week later.” Tony insisted.

Peter made a “pfft” sound and then looked at them. When he saw their expression, his shoulders slumped and his eyes looked down at his feet.

“I’m sorry. That…That was rude of me.”

Tony sniffed and raised his chin. “You bet it was.”

Pepper looked between them and stepped between the two males, her hands glowing. “Okay, don’t get under each other’s skin.”

Peter frowned, biting his lip. “I’m…Look. I can’t see you as my parents, not yet.” He looked up, his eyes were glistening and flickering between hazel and aqua. “Maybe, maybe one day.”

Pepper looked hopeful. “One day?”

Peter shrugged. “I guess…I mean, I will still be seeing you a lot. Just…Let me have my space.”

Tony frowned. “That’s a terrible idea.”

“And no watching over me on my patrols.” Peter butted in, voice slightly turning slightly aggressive.

“I wasn’t planning on it but now you put the idea in my head.” Tony started, but was jabbed by Pepper. “Ouch! Honey! Why?”

Pepper scowled. “Keep your distance, Tony.”

“I’ll try at least.” Tony looked at Peter. “When…When will we next see you?”

“Dunno. Maybe in the next couple of days.” Peter shrugged. “We’ll see how Harley and I go.”

Pepper touched Peter’s shoulder. “We will always be there to listen to you, Peter. Even if we don’t know you that well, you are still our son and no matter what…We will never leave you alone.” Her blue green eyes misted over with tears. “We might’ve left you before, but we won’t do that again.”

Peter nodded. “You…You never left, not really, I guess…” He looked at them. “I guess shock is still in your body?”

“Yeah…” Tony agreed.

“Okay.” Peter sighed. “Look, I’m sorry. But I can’t stay here. I have to figure out what to do, and I guess we have to figure that out without any influence of each other. Maybe…I can’t confirm I’ll be accepting towards you as my parents, but for now.”

Pepper and Tony nodded in acceptance. They may not fully accept it, but at least they were aware of the possibility of Peter accepting them eventually.

 

They watched Peter leave with May, Ned, MJ and Tina with Loki who created a portal using the space stone.

Peter noticed that Tony and Pepper were away from Rhodey who kept looking at them in concern and regret. Obviously they were slightly ignoring him, the wounds fresh, and the fealing of betrayal from Steve still lingering in Tony's mind. Thor and Bruce were also with Rhodey, as Tony now had no idea what to think about them and also them keeping secrets from him, along with them living on Earth for a few months without any contact.

Scott, Hope, T'Challa and Nakia were the only ones who were near the couple. Perhaps because of Scott and Hope knowing how to deal with kids, and Nakia and T'Challa not knowing Peter was Zayden in the first place.

Peter looked away in slight worry. He had fucked things up big time. He wasn't actually sure anything could be fixed, but wanted to give them a sense of hope that everything will turn out fine.

May wrapped an arm around her nephew and kissed his hair to reassure him that no matter what he decided to do.

Peter will always have May as his aunt and his mother.

However, now Pepper and Tony were aware of their relations to each other. That made things complicated.

Especially since Peter had a feeling that Red Skull’s _friend_ was still out there. If he had his blood and DNA, Peter needed to deal with them himself and couldn’t ask for any assistance.

With the revelations out, Tina looked at Peter as if she knew what he was going to do.

She whispered to him. “Your plan is stupid and dangerous, but…You’ll figure things out when you are dealing with it.”

“You’re not going to tell me what is going on, will you?”

“I can’t.”

“Any clue as to what I will get out of it?”

“A sense of peace.” Tina’s lips twitched into a pure and sincere smile. “Just…Do what you do, and everything will fall into place.” Her eyes darkened. “After all, the end result will be the same regardless of what you choose.”

Peter had a feeling she was regarding Thanos, but he didn’t bother asking her. She wouldn’t give him a straight answer any way.

Peter sighed and looked at the New York sky as he stepped out of the sanctum.

 _If what Tina says is true. Then looking for them will help me figure out my family situation and what to do about it._ Peter bounded after MJ and Ned who had said they were meeting up for ice cream with the team. _For now, I guess. I’ll relax. I deserve some relaxation._


	38. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was going to wait to upload this, but it is so short it was easily written.
> 
> If you have to blame anyone for anything it is gonna be the universe.
> 
> The next installment will start next monday or tuesday depending on how many chapters I've written and how many chapters for this story have been revamped (trying to get one or two done every day from now on)

~ 13 billion years earlier ~

 

Infinity’s steps were silent, her eyes narrowed in suspicion at the other three figures. She was doubtful that her companions, one being her brother and one her nephew, had good intentions. Perhaps they did but Infinity couldn’t see it.

“Where are the stones?!” She yelled, her power radiating from her very being.

Eternity rolled his eyes. “Stop over reacting, Infinity. The stones are fine.”

Death hummed. “They are in the care of certain species across the universe.”

Infinity hissed. “You guys have lost your damn minds!”

“What do you have us to do?” Entropy snapped. “You know as well as we do that the stones will be hunted by several different beings in their lifetimes.”

“And I also know the first three will fail, because the protectors of the universe will prevent such an incident from occurring.” Infinity stated. “So, it doesn’t matter where there are, because they still won’t be all found.”

Death narrowed her eyes. “Look, the first three will fail but the fourth will succeed.”

Infinity spat. “And what will you do to the lives of the protectors?”

The other three turned to face Entropy who merely raised an eyebrow.

“Well…I have my plans.”

“Why are you so set on destroying their lives?” Eternity asked, reeling back in surprise – even though his son’s tendency to like destruction was well known among the universe.

Entropy shrugged. “We will be forgotten to times, and the ones who will face this challenge are mostly from a planet that is not going to be born for another nine billion years.”

Eternity growled. “Their lives are important.”

“You know everything will turn out fine.” Entropy didn’t see anything wrong with it. “Also, their stories were written at the dawn of time.”

“Keeping a child from their family?” Infinity asked, voice soft though she couldn’t believe it to be true. “Why does that have to happen?”

Entropy shrugged. “No idea, but it will and we will have to learn to deal with it.”

Eternity placed a hand on his sister’s shoulder. “Infinity, we can’t change what it set out before us.” 

Death grumbled. “I agree with Infinity, and you know how much I hate saying that. A child should be returned to their family.”

“They can’t!” Entropy snarled. “You’d destroy the fate of the universe, you’ll keep it ruined if you do that!”

“Then what will they say to him?” Infinity asked.

Entropy hummed. “That is none of our concern, our only concern is to ensure that he never meets with his parents until his life is no longer in danger.”

Infinity wanted to argue, but she knew it was pointless. Each of them knew that if the universe had plans set out for a being, then no-one can try and alter it.

Infinity looked over the galaxies. “What being are we looking at?”

“A titan.” Death said. “Someone who is in love with me.”

Infinity huffed. “Sounds like a personal problem.”

“Keep your mouth shut, Infinity. Everyone is in love with you.” Death hissed which Infinity shrugged.

“Yeah, well we will soon be lost as legends, and our names will no longer be known all across the universe.” Infinity shrugged. “Got to take it while you can.”

Eternity looked at Entropy.

Entropy curled his lip back. “Don’t say anything father. I can’t change it, it’s what is meant to happen, so we have to let it happen.”

Eternity could only sigh as he watched his sister. “I just hope the universe knows what it is doing.”

 

~ Present Day ~

 

Entropy folded his arms as he stared down at Earth.

Humans.

Interesting beings who were so in love with all of the Cosmic Entities without ever knowing anything about them.

They desired creation, so much so that they were willing to destroy in order to recreate.

They loved life, but desired knowledge that they would risk death for understanding.

They were also probably the most temperamental species that Entropy had ever seen.

How on Earth are some of the new protectors these creatures?

Then again…

Most of the protectors were from older species that were more developed and advanced.

Humans were weak in comparison.

Why did the universe believe they would save it?

What did they have?

They lives were terrible…

Even as the being of destruction, when it came to life, why did humans have things happen to them that wouldn’t fly normally?

Any other species would put a stop to it as soon as they saw the trouble.

Perhaps that is why.

The universe recognises humans as this species that will always persevere regardless of the situation.

Entropy looked over at Eternity, Infinity and Death.

His eyes landed on the Soul Stone carrier.

His life is terrible, but without this then he would be useless to the universe.

Entropy may disagree with his father but could never imagine being separated from him.

However, the universe knows what it is doing.

Entropy knew that everything will turn out fine.

The universe chose the Parkers for a reason.

That reason was that Peter Parker, no. Zayden Stark would be useless to saving the universe if he had remained with his parents.

He never would’ve gone to Oscorp and gotten bitten, which was the one thing the universe knew had to happen to him. Leaving him as the child of Oscorp’s biggest rivals would be stupid.

His life would be in danger twenty-four seven if news got out about him being a Stark and living with his parents.

The Parkers didn’t give him back because they couldn’t. Because the universe was refusing to let Peter get swayed. It knows he plays a large role in protecting it, and it knew how to ensure that he was capable of doing so.

It had its ways, but Entropy knew better than to question the universe.

His gaze focused on Tina, who looked up at the sky knowing he was watching.

She shook her head, and Entropy knew.

He knew that it would get worse.

Peter’s life is only just beginning to get worse.

Before it could get better.

He looked over at Death who shrugged when Tina glanced at Peter.

Death knew, Tina knew.

Everyone knew somehow, and Entropy was relieved to know he wasn’t alone.

They couldn’t do anything physically, but perhaps they could guide Peter.

The stones were still affecting him, just the way the universe wanted them to.

The soul stone was the strongest, and it was the most intelligent. Nothing could fool it, so anything Peter did now was not because of the other stones.

They are catalysts for his choices, not the cause.

Entropy nodded to himself.

Yes, humans loved creation but in order to fix something one must break it.

The universe has undergone three previous attempts of a being wanting to rule it and every single time they failed.

Now the current generation of protectors are the ones who will recreate the universe, but first it must be broken.

In order to make sure Peter was prepared, the universe must first break him.

Not matter the cost, no matter the outcome.

The universe will do what needs to be done.

**Author's Note:**

> As I have a lot of chapters backed up I will be updating every Friday and Tuesday (with a day on either side depending)
> 
> Playlist found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9kN9iF5KGRF9JKGFBJL24RA-OjWh9IzG (the songs are meant to span the entirety of the series)


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